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Attack on Titan in Oita: The Dam That Became Wall Maria

A 94-metre dam wall, three life-size statues beneath it, and a museum in the author's hometown. Remote, free to look at, and unlike anything else on this site.

7 min read

What is actually there

Two things, a short distance apart, in Oyama in the city of Hita, Oita Prefecture — where Hajime Isayama grew up.

The dam and the statues

Below the Oyama Dam stands a downstream plaza. The dam wall is 94 metres of concrete, and it reads unmistakably as Wall Maria. At the base of it are life-size bronze statues of Eren, Mikasa and Armin as children, positioned as they were at the moment they first saw a Titan appear above the wall.

It is outdoors, free, and open at any hour. The scale is the point — a photograph does not reproduce standing underneath 94 metres of wall.

The museum

Attack on Titan in HITA holds original signed artwork, the rejected design proposals for the statues, and large objects produced only for this site.

Opening hours are 09:30–16:00 on weekdays and 09:30–17:00 at weekends and holidays. Check the official site before travelling, as these can change.

Getting there is the hard part

This is the honest problem. Hita is in inland Oita, and Oyama is outside the city centre. Public transport is sparse.

Your realistic options:

  • Rental car — the most flexible, and Oita is easy to drive.
  • The shuttle taxi tour run by the local tourism association, which is designed for exactly this trip and removes the transport problem.
  • Bus and a long walk, which works but constrains your timing significantly.

Hita itself is reachable from Fukuoka (about 1.5 hours by bus or train) or from Beppu / Oita city.

Fitting it into a trip

Nobody flies to Japan specifically for this. It works when you are already in Kyushu:

  • Fukuoka for the city and food
  • Beppu or Yufuin for hot springs
  • Hita for this

Add Harmonyland, Sanrio's outdoor park, also in Oita, and you have a genuinely varied Kyushu itinerary.

Why it is worth the effort

Most anime pilgrimage sites are places that happened to be drawn. This is different: the town deliberately built something, with the author's involvement, in the place he is from. The statues are not merchandise dropped into a plaza — their placement recreates a specific moment, and the dam behind them does the work no exhibit could.

It is also, for now, almost completely uncrowded. That will not always be true.

Practical notes

  • The statues are outdoors and free. The museum charges admission.
  • Weather matters — this is an outdoor plaza with no shelter.
  • There is very little in the immediate area, so plan food around it rather than expecting to find it there.
  • Hita's old town, Mameda-machi, is a preserved Edo-period merchant district and a reasonable pairing for the same day.

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