Beppu Things to Do

This spa is located at the end of one of Beppu's beaches. You must take off your shoes at the entrance and place them in a locker costing 100yen. Then pay 500 yen for the spa. Women go off to the left, men to the right. You can place your clothes in a locker in the changing room. There is an indoor room where you can wash prior to entering the spa. This room has several hot baths and a mist sauna. The outside area is mixed and you must wear your swimsuit here. There were several pools and a jiccuzi all at different temperatures. When we visited everyone was very covered up (I assume as protection from the sun). They were wearing wet suits, hats, facial masks and gloves!!! I was just in my swimsuit. People walked round and round the main pool then began an exercise session using floats. I just sat and relaxed. It was fun and good value. I felt very relaxed and unachey afterwards. In the inside room there was also some spa water available for drinking.

1 more image

We decided to visit Beppu Tower. You buy your ticket from a machine on the ground floor. Admission is 200 yen. You then take the lift to floor 16 and hand your ticket to the woman there. There are great views from the tower over the harbour, beach and Beppu town. There are also little cafes and a display of photos from Beppu's past.

1 more image

This hell is near Blood Pond Hell. It consists of a seating area where people wait to see a geyser that spouts into the air around every 20 minutes. The name Tatsumaki Jigoku means Waterspout Hell. The geyser spouts for around 5 minutes or soenabling everyone to take a picture. When it had finished spouting we climbed the stairs at the back and wandered through the garden. From the top of the garden there were good views over the village. Toilet facilities are available outside this hell and it has agift shop.

2 more images

From Kannawa Bus Station we took bus number 16 to Chinoike Jigoku the Blood Pond Hell. There were great views over Beppu as we left Kannawa on the bus. Chinoike Jigoku cost 400 yen to enter. It has a large gift shop selling spa products and souvenirs at the entrance. Blood Pond Hell is of course red due to the red clay dissolved in its water. It is quite pretty and is set in lovely surroundings. You can view the pond from the front or climb a flight of steps to get a photo of the entire pond. There was arestaurant which we did not visit and a very enjoyable foot bath which we tried. Quite nice but it would be better if there was more garden to explore.

On our second visit to Beppu we spent a few hours returning to Kannawa and the hells. This time we visited Shiraike Jigoku or White Pond Hell. Entry was 400 yen. White Pond Hell has a large milky blue pond with lots of steam. It is quite photogenic. There are small gardens around it which have a couple of statues. Then there is wooden building with tropical fish tanks. The tanks include some pirannahs. Upstairs in this building there is adisplay of some Japanese paintings. The site also has clean toilets, drink vending machines, tables and chairs. It was quite interesting for ashort visit and took agood photo but was nowhere near as good as Umi Jigoku. If you can only visit one hell Umi Jigoku is the one to choose.

1 more image

Wandering around the streets of Kannawa was fun. You will see food being cooked by steam. There is a shrine on the hill which overlooks the crocodile hell from here you can see steam rising over the rooftops of Kannawa.

4 more images

We took a bus from Beppu Station to Kannawa. Exit the station on the mountainside exit and take bus 2,7,5,41,43 and 9. It cost 320 yen. When you enter the bus take a ticket from the machine. This is your entry stop number. You need to look at the display board at the front for your final price. (We jumped on bus 15 on the way back which went a longer route and cost more back to Beppu Station).

When you get to Beppu there are 6 hells to choose from. Entry is 400 yen. We intended to visit two, but were fortunate enough to start at Umi Jigoku and that was so beautiful we just stayed there till it closed at 5pm.

If Umi jigoku is Hell I need to start being bad because it was beautiful. It is basically a large flower filled garden filled with a large pond. There is a foot spa where you can sit and enjoy the spa waters. They did wonders for my eczyma. (Follow the sign saying spa for a leg).

Umi Jigoku means Sea Hell. When you wander through the shop on site you will reach a beautiful cobalt blue pool of steaming water. This pool gives the hell its name. There is a little shrine next to this pool.

Go back through the shop and up the hill and there is a blood red steaming pool also stunning. Then visit the hot house to see the hell's stunningly beautiful water lilies. Also wander the gardens in spring they are full of azaleas.

I did not see the other hells but am confident that this was one of the best if not the best of the hells.

4 more images

The Beppu Ropeway on the Mt Tsurumi in the Aso-Kuju National Park, was completed in 1962 by the technology of Kinki Nippon Railway. It was the only ropeway in the world to link a vertical distance of 792 meters. The 101-person gondola takes about ten minutes to reach the mountain top, bringing you to a 360 degree panoramic view of Beppu City and the surrounding mountains.

Worshippers pay pilgrimage to the Seven Gods along the path on the mountain: Fukurokuju, Daikokuten, Hotei, Jurojin, Bishamonten, Benzaiten and Ebisuten.