Beppu produces more hot spring water than anywhere in Japan, with eight distinctive geothermal 'hells' (jigoku) — including a cobalt-blue sea hell, blood-red pool and a pond where crocodiles bask in geothermal heat — open for sightseeing tours. The city has over 2,000 individual spring sources and onsen of every variety: rooftop baths, mud baths at Beppu Onsen Hoyo Land, and the unique sand baths (sunamushi) where attendants bury guests in naturally heated volcanic sand at Takegawara Bathhouse.
- Type
- Experience
- Category
- Culture
- Season
- Year-round
- Month
- Year-round
- Region
- Kyushu
- Prefecture
- Oita
- City
- Beppu
Highlights
- ◆Eight 'Jigoku' geothermal hell pools on the tour circuit
- ◆Cobalt-blue Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) and scarlet Chi-no-Ike (Blood Pond)
- ◆Traditional sand bath burial experience at Takegawara
- ◆Volcanic mud bath at Beppu Onsen Hoyo Land
- ◆Steam-cooked jigoku-mushi cuisine using geothermal vents