As you turn into the quiet country road leading to Usuki's Buddhist rock carvings, a stone torii gate, riveted into the earth, deeply corroded by wind and rain, comes into momentary view. Standing in a field of rippling green paddy, it is an unintentional signal that you have entered a different time zone, a different mode of thought.

Situated at the edge of a forested escarpment that overlooks a shallow valley, Usuki's Sekibutsu (Stone Buddha Ruins), 31 km southeast of Oita City and a good 20 minutes by local bus or taxi from Usuki Station, are inconveniently enough located to deter all but the most serious visitors, only a trickle of whom venture this far out into the Kyushu countryside. For those prepared to make the effort however, the 59 carvings of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the furious visage of a Deva King, on a lone rock face set apart from the main four clusters, are an arresting sight, a colossal memorial to a cult of esoteric Buddhism whose followers and principals have vanished without trace.

Although some realignment and fissuring has been caused by centuries of earth tremors and natural subsidence, the consummately carved reliefs at Usuki remain remarkably intact. The site has been designated a Special Place of Historical Importance. Though it is probable that the work was begun during the late Heian Period and completed by the early Kamakura Period, visitors look in vain for more concise historical directives. There appears to be no absolute consensus regarding the origin of the site, who commissioned or executed the carvings, or why such a large, relatively remote area was dedicated for the images.