Oita · BeppuNo.456★★Open in map →
Toriten
— Oita's chicken tempura, dipped in mustard vinegar
Oita's own chicken tempura: boneless meat marinated in soy and garlic, fried in tempura batter, eaten with vinegared soy and hot mustard. The covered market under Beppu Station's viaduct is where you can buy it a piece at a time.
Toriten is not karaage. The chicken is boned, cut into bite-sized pieces, marinated in soy sauce and garlic, then coated in tempura batter, which gives it a lighter and softer crust than fried chicken carries. In Oita it is everyday cooking and a standing fixture on restaurant menus across the prefecture. Beppu Station Market fills the railway viaduct beside the station: a covered lane of butchers, fishmongers, delicatessens and tempura counters, now mixed with newer cafes and bakeries. Several of its shops sell toriten straight over the counter. It is a working neighbourhood market rather than a restaurant strip, so you can buy a piece, eat it standing, and carry on.
Why it stays quiet
This is a well-known regional dish in a market attached to a main station, so it is not a hidden find. What it is not is a tourist strip. Most of the people in the lane are buying dinner, and outside the lunch rush the arcade is easy to walk at your own pace.
Background & history
Where toriten began is genuinely disputed. The agriculture ministry's record of regional cooking credits Toyoken, a Beppu restaurant founded in 1926, whose owner reworked bone-in fried chicken into a boneless tempura version so it would be easier to eat. Oita City claims the dish instead for eating houses in its own downtown. The market is a separate story: it opened under the viaduct in the 1960s, was rebuilt in stages, and its final section had its grand opening in May 2026.
What to look for — in walking order
- Aburaya Kumahachi statue
- a bronze of the man who built Beppu's tourist trade, arms raised, on the station's east side
- Beppu Station hand bath
- a free teyu on the station square, fed continuously from a hot spring source
- Beppu Station Market
- the covered viaduct lane of butchers, fishmongers, delicatessens, tempura counters and newer cafes
- B-Passage
- the station-building arcade on the northern side of the viaduct, the counterpart to the market
How to enjoy it
Opening hours differ counter by counter, so late morning to mid-afternoon is when the most shutters are up. Toriten is normally eaten with vinegared soy sauce and a dab of hot Japanese mustard, with ponzu and kabosu citrus the other common pairing. Buy from a neighbouring counter as well: the same lane sells oysters, dried fish and steamed pork buns.
How to actually get there
- Hakata Station → Beppu Station (JR limited express Sonic, about 2 hours).
- Leave the ticket gates and walk out to the east side, called the Kaigan exit, for the Kumahachi statue and the free hand bath.
- Turn back into the viaduct and walk the covered market lane, buying toriten by the piece as you go.
- Cross under to the northern arcade if you want a roof over the last of the walk back to the platforms.
- JR limited express Sonic from Hakata
- Hakata Station →(JR limited express Sonic, about 2 hours)→ Beppu Station. Sonic services run through the day between Hakata and Oita and stop at Beppu, so the only planning worth doing is a reserved seat in peak season. The market is inside the station's own viaduct, so there is no onward transfer at the far end.
- Return from Beppu Station
- Sonic services run back toward Kokura and Hakata through the day from the same platforms. Check the departure board before you settle in for a long browse, as limited-express services thin out in the evening and the remaining options are slower Nippo Main Line locals.
Before you go
- Cash
- The shops in the market are individually run, so carry cash and ask before assuming card or IC payment. Prices are marked by the piece or by weight at most counters.
- Closing days
- The arcade reopened in stages after a full rebuild, so the line-up of shops is newer than the viaduct around it and some units change hands. Closing days are set shop by shop rather than market-wide, and a few advertise opening every day except the New Year holidays.
- Another way
- From Oita Station, local JR Nippo Main Line trains reach Beppu in about 12 minutes for 340 yen. From Oita Airport, the airport access bus takes roughly 50 to 55 minutes to the Beppu Kitahama stop in central Beppu.
- After you get off
- The market is under the station's own viaduct on the south side. Leave the ticket gates, step out to the east side for the statue and the hand bath, then turn back into the covered lane.