My weekend in the hells

Having my two best friends move to Oita has been great. Asides from the obvious bonus of good, tried and tested company, they are still in the doe-eyed phase where Japan is the most amazing place in the world while I am busy trying to quell my insane road rage.

So this weekend we decided to go foreign. Sunday was spent in Beppu doing the tourist thing. We had intended to take the cable car up the mountain to see the changing maple leaves but when we got there the mist was too heavy, reducing the chance of any photo opportunities. So instead we headed back down the mountain to another of Beppu’s attractions – onsen.

Beppu is the hot spring capital of Japan with the largest number of springs in the country. All of which are considered sacred. In fact, Beppu has the largest volume of hot water in the world after Yellowstone Park in the US. The entire mountainside, when viewed from a distance, is covered in plumes of steam, and when walking through the streets of Kannawa you constantly pass steaming pipes and vents.  This is all very well but because of the sulphur, Beppu has a distinct eggy smell. However the most interesting are the main geothermal hotspots (of impending doom) known as The Hells.

The Hells are a collection of nine hot springs in Beppu. There are seven in the Kannawa district and 2 in Shibaseki. These are not for bathing as the water that comes up here is a toasty 50 to 99.5 °C.  As Wiki travel puts it so eloquently “multicolored volcanic pits of boiling water and mud”. But it is excellent for boiling eggs. In fact, the local trick is to boil eggs in the springs for tourist consumption. I didn’t try one but I got the point.

Kannawa district:
Umi Jigoku – the Sea Hell
Oniishibozu Jigoku – Shaven Monk's Head Hell of boiling mud pools
Shiraike Jigoku – White Pond Hell
Yama Jigoku – Mountain Hell
Kamado Jigoku – Cooking Pot Hell
Oniyama Jigoku – Monster Mountain Hell featuring crocodiles
Kinryu Jigoku – Golden Dragon Hell

Shibaseki district
Chinoike Jigoku – Blood Pond Hell
Tatsumaki Jigoku – Spout (geyser) Hell

The water can range from bright orange to milky white to turquoise. We visited Umi Jigoku, a large turquoise hell, which looks very appealing accept for the jets of steam blasting out from between the rocks.  You half expect dinosaurs to rise up out of the water, due to the distinct Jurassic feel.  Within the Umi Jigoku grounds there is also a small orange spring, which is distinctly more ominous.

I got into trouble with my companions as there is an overwhelming desire to stick ones fingers into random pools of water to see how warm it is. This is a habit that probably shouldn’t be performed in front of small, impressionable Japanese children – especially in front of the “do not touch” signs.

We just stopped at the one spring (¥400) but if you are intending to visit you can get a 9 ticket pass for ¥2000. The Kannawa area has quite a nice walking path between the springs and, of course, there are numerous bathing onsen in the area too.

Pics here