Compared to Kyoto, Beppu does not have temples or shrines really. It has onsens and pudding so that's okay. All that white smoke is actually steam from the dozens upon dozen of onsen in Beppu. I believe there are at least 36 onsen, but I am pretty sure there are over a hundred baths.


I am living in the city of onsen (hot spring), but I haven't spoken much about them. Today was cold so of course onsen! I went with a friend to a famous onsen in Beppu, only a 15 minute or so ride from my school by bus. Very cheap bus ride, rather expensive onsen but it was so much fun. That symbol to the left is the onsen symbol. The map below shows all of the onsen in Beppu. (Look for the symbol in blue!)

Beppu has the most rich and natural onsen in Japan. In Beppu there are 8 different springs which are now towns and onsen areas within Beppu. They are named Beppu, Kannawa, Myoban, Kankaiji, Hamawaki, Kamegawa, Horita and Shibaseki. I have visited onsens in Beppu, Kamegawa and now Kannawa. From sulfur baths, to clay, to salt, to special mineral water for your skin, there are many natural onsen in Beppu. There are also other onsen that are 'man made' such as the carbonated bath and the electric bath that gives you shocks as you sit in it. I have tried all of those and maybe the clay is my favorite and the shock one is my least favorite.

Indoor 

Onsens are not expensive typically (in Beppu at least). Maybe a few hundred yen (a few US dollars). There are indoor spa type baths or outdoor ones that look like beautiful pools of water. Some are small, with only one bath for both genders. Then there are some with saunas, outdoor, indoor, sulfur, clay and normal baths, those are the expensive ones.

Very Pretty Outdoor

Onsen water isn't just good for your skin, but you can boil stuff with it! Go figure. Onsen Tamago (onsen boiled eggs) are delicious, as well as sweet Purrin (Pudding).

So today I visited Hoyoland onsen in Kannawa. This one had an outdoor, clay, sulfur and sauna bath in it. The clay was by far the most fun out of the baths but the sulfur is very nice for your skin. Unfortunately the onsen boiled pudding was all sold out! We then went to get dinner at Myoban which is known for it's thatched roof huts that house crystal making facilities used in bath salts. Now because we are on a mountain and there are hot springs everywhere, including sulfur baths, yes, it smells like rotten eggs. Sometimes when the wind blows up the mountain, we get that lovely smell on campus. I can't get used to it and where a face mask.

Myoban

Chee-no-eekay Ji-go-ku and Ta-tsu-ma-kee Ji-go-ku

Yesterday I visited two of the eight Jigoku Hells. The Jigoku Hells are hot springs that will probably boil you to death if you stepped foot in them. They are located in the Kannawa district of Beppu. The ones we went to are actually located in the Shibaseki district of Beppu, not all that far. We walked about a mile and a half from Kannawa instead of taking the bus, on a pretty road. It was cold and windy unfortunately, but the rain held off and it turned out to be a beautiful day, I think.




We went to Tatsumaki Jigoku first, which is a boiling hot geiser that shoots off every half hour or so. It's protected by rocks, otherwise it would shoot up over 30 meters. This was the smelliest of the two and reeked of sulfur, but that's only if you decided to walk into the steam. Just the steam was hot enough to send you back a few feet!



















Next we went to Chinoike Jigoku, also known as the blood pond hell. The clay in this hotspring makes it appear a blood red color. When the steam blew in your direction, step back! This one was very hot, even when I got the picture from at least 20 meters up. This one smelled a little like clay and if you looked into the pond, you could see the hot clay at the bottom. The water was very clear and only the bottom was red.

For lunch I got takoyaki from a small vendor across the street. Eight for 500yen! Takoyaki is octopus, in a soft, squishy wheat flour blend then fried in a special pan to make these little balls! It's then topped with tempura flakes, bonito flakes and japanese mayo. They are very much a comfort snack here in Japan. (This is not my picture, I ate mine too fast to take a picture!)

Takoyaki Recipe