Oniishi Bozu Jigoku

Another key itinerary point for this trip. A place I could gladly sit for hours and just soak up the scenery (sight, sound, smell). My only gripe, just like the other hell holes, is that there isn't any information (colour, temperature, minerals, ph, etc). But then again, there isn't one in Japanese either. Arrive early, beat the crowds. Free parking.

Directly next to Umi Jigoku. Much smaller but worth a visit to see the mud pools that are unique to this “Hell”. Not very picturesque the way the Tiffany blue pools are in Umi Jigoku, but it’s calming to watch the bubbles form on the surface of the hotsprings and the crowd is much smaller than at Kamado Jigoku which lets you have your time to enjoy the view.

Honestly one of the weirder hells and that’s why you have to go. The hot springs look like wet cement but then you see the hot spring water bubbling up from below. The footbath at 坊主地獄 is also not too hot, just right, and it felt really calm and relaxing while we were there soaking our feet watching dragonflies zip by. If this is hell, I’m ready to face my maker.

Unique hot spring mainly made of mud, it’s very interesting to see the bubbling mud!

We liked this place. It has a big gift shop and a foot bath. We went on March 23, 2024. It was a Saturday, so it was a little crowded but not too bad. There are not many English speakers, but the important signs are in English. I used goggle translate to interpret the signs that we only in Japanese. One of the 7 hot springs we visited on this day.

This is a small park with boiling hot springs in it. The park is very well manicured, really pretty. There are places where you can soak your feet. Unfortunately, it was winter and we didn’t bring towels to dry our feet (not provided in the park as well) so we skipped the feet soaking unlike some other guests. This park is one of the 7 in the Jigoku group. Not all parks are part of this group. You can buy a group ticket to see all the parks or you can buy entrance to each park individually.

This is one of the iconic 7 hot spring Jigoku Meguri or The Hells Tour spots in Beppu. You can see bubbling mud here which is so mesmerising to see. The place is clean and well maintenanced. There is also a footbath, which is very relaxing after a long walk from the tour.

Less beautiful than the onsen next door but still quite nice to walk around. Has a creamy look to it. ¥2200 for entrance tickets to visit all the onsen like this in the area.

Beppu Jigoku / Beppu -- Welcome to HELL!! (-- crack of thunder followed by Margaret Hamilton's scary cackle --) Actually it's seven hells, but Jamie W. and I only went to five hells because the last two were further out closer to the sea, and besides, you pretty much get the gist of these hot springs pools rather quickly. They're all piping hot and supposedly remind you of purgatory. The five pools we saw were up in the hills north of the city. Thanks to helpful guidance from a friendly worker in the tourist info center at the Beppu train station, we took the local bus and got off in the Kannawa district close to Umi Jigoku, the first pool. The other four were within walking distance of the return bus stop. We paid just ¥2,000 in total for access to all of them vs. the standard ¥400 per hell per person admission. Umi Jigoku was the most developed of the hells with a snack bar and gift shop that looked pretty new. The calm green pond covered in lily pads was the first thing we saw (photo: https://bit.ly/3XDiusK). Next was the centerpiece, a pool of cobalt blue water with white steam constantly rising (photo: https://bit.ly/3rajOqI). Up a slight hill was an orange rust colored pool also cloaked in white steam (photo: https://bit.ly/3NDPUme). You can't swim in any of the hells, but they offered a foot bath here where we soaked our tootsies with ease (photo: https://bit.ly/3XwPUcl). Just above Umi Jigoku was the second hell, Oniishibozu Jigoku, which was a series of small ponds with smaller gray mud bubbles (video: https://bit.ly/3pwXuqN). Not aesthetically pleasing but interesting to see the boiling pot action. Down the road was the third hell, Kamado Jigoku, which featured both blue and orange rust colored pools but wasn't quite as Instagrammable as Umi Jigoku (photo: https://bit.ly/3ptaNbV). A large demon statue was its most prominent feature (photo: https://bit.ly/3Nykeik). The fourth hell, Oniyama Jigoku, was the strangest and most frustrating because its green pool was completely obscured by the aggressively rising white steam. Moreover, it featured a crocodile farm that came across as a tacky roadside attraction where live crocodiles were mixed with obviously fake ones (photo: https://bit.ly/3rcRJiJ). Very strange. Shiarike Jigoku was the fifth hell and the final one for us. It consisted of a pleasant light green pond that was probably the least hellish of the bunch (photo: https://bit.ly/44u9EiW). The surrounding gardens were nice, and the small aquarium was unexpected and certainly an improvement over a crocodile pit (photo: https://bit.ly/438wGuH). At this point, we were ready to leave Hell but not before we had a satisfying steamed meal at Chinetsu Kanko Labo Enma (review: https://bit.ly/46vFCNA). RELATED - Exploring Japan? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2qrUBZo

Now who would want to see the 7 Hells of Beppu or its generic name of Beppu Hot Springs? When we first made our itinerary in travelling to Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu in Japan, we decided to use a 5-day train pass to visit another city, Nagasaki. But in the course of doing some research, the 7 Hells in the city of Beppu caught my eye. A slight exaggeration in its name, we were taken aback that these were called "hells." We understand that in in ancient times, people thought the area was cursed and feared it. Instead, we viewed them Mother Nature's way of showing the unusual scenic beauty of a variety of natural hot springs. After reading about this, a one-night stay in Beppu (which should have been several days) was on the agenda, a 2-hour train ride from Fukuoka. Yes, it's Japan most famous hot spring resorts and is an onsen town that has a range of baths, including ordinary hot water baths, mud baths, sand baths, and steam baths. Beppu is also known of its "hells" of spectacular hot springs for viewing rather than for bathing. Lol, I would use another name for these amazing steaming water ponds! These hell spots were spectacular because of the bellowing steam in that air that you could see emitting from the ponds from anywhere in the town, and more impressive when we were up close. Also, the different colors of the pond waters and bubbling spots made them even more interesting. As the pond colors are due to the natural chemicals in the earth, creams and lotions are made using these waters for health benefits and are available for sale to the public. And there are foods, like hard-boiled eggs, that are cooked instantly in the 212° F steam, supposedly locking in flavor and nutrients. We were awed by this attraction and highly recommend visiting it if you're in the area. We also took advantage of several public footbaths in the area. With all the walking that we were doing, it was surely soothing to soak our tiring feet into hot steaming water from the natural hot springs! So refreshed afterwards that we could keep on walking without being tired. The Hells include: * Umi Jigoku. A beautiful "ocean hell" is a 208° F pond of boiling, cobalt blue water. There are a fewer smaller, orange-colored hells and a clear water pond with lotus flowers whose leaves are strong enough to carry small kids. * Oniishibozu Jigoku. This hell is named after the gray mud bubbles, which emerge from boiling mud pools and look like shaven heads of monks. There is a public footbath here. * Shiraike Jigoku. This "white pond hell" has hot, milky water and is surrounded by a nice garden and a small aquarium. There is the smell of sulphur in the area, which is surrounded by steam. * Kamado Jigoku. This "cooking pot hell" has several boiling ponds and a flashy demon cook as a mascot. We were able to drink the hot spring water, enjoy hand/foot baths, and inhale the hot spring steam. * Oniyama Jigoku. This " monster mountain hell" is also known as the "alligator jigoku" where heat produced by the natural springs are used to raise alligators. Some 100 alligators from around the world are bred and kept on the grounds. * Chinoike Jigoku. This "blood pond hell" has hot, red water from boiling blood-red clay and is the oldest jigoku spring in Japan. Ointment is made from the magnesium-rich mud, which is supposed to be good for skin disease. * Tatsumaki Jigoku. This "tornado hell" has a boiling hot geyser that erupts huge amounts of boiling water every 30-40 minutes for about 6-10 minutes. Cost is 400 yen per hell or 2,000 yen for all 7 hells (good for 2 consecutive days); there is a student and senior citizen discount. Public buses run frequently to these sites, and we had no problem, as all visitors who visit Beppu will visit these hell spots. After seeing the hell spots, there is also staff at the bus stop to tell you how to get back to your hotel or to your next destination. There are also private bus tours available. We're so glad we made this pit stop in Beppu but wished we had a few more days to explore this quaint town and to soak in the many onsens. These ponds are a must-see if you travel to Beppu!

別府地獄 Beppu Jigoku - "The 8 Hells might be a little touristy but it is kind of fun to visit at least once. The cost of booklet of tickets to visit all 8 hells costs 2,100 Yen and if you had visit the tourist office at Beppu Station where you purchase the bus ticket to get here, you would have paid only 1890 Yen with the coupon from the free guide book. At first we were only planning to visit 2 hells but after realizing they were almost all walking distance from one another and the set up so tourist friendly, we decided to visit every single one of them! Not all hells worth visiting but if I suggest at least Umi Jigoku (Ocean Hell) where they have a nice foot bath and the most beautiful coloured water Kamado (Kitchen Hell) where they have hot springs cooked food and foot bath Yama (Mountain Hell) if you have kids as there is a zoo there Skip - A little out of the way as you need to take another bus to get here! Tatsumaki (Hurricane Hell) Out of the way and it is really waiting for the hot springs to erupt Chinoike (Blood Hell) has the best gift shop Every Jigoku has its unique snacks and offerings. So if you see something you like to eat or try, please go ahead and get those since you won't find them again in the next hell. Bring a small hand towel if you want to enjoy the foot bath or you can get a disposal one from the vendor machines in some of the locations. After visiting all these hot springs, I really want to go and soak myself in one!

The most touristy place I ever been to in Japan. They put you walked through their gift shop before letting you to go see the onsen hell !? There are 8 hells in total but we only saw 2 and call it a day. All 8 hells are different however they are too touristy too crowded and too many gift shops. Worst part was we witnessed a huge group of foreigners led by a tour guide stormed the snack stand for about 15 minutes. Some of them cut in line, spoke loudly and left trash (cans, egg shells) everywhere. What the craziest was some of them even tried to steal the bottled soda from the shop assistant when he was distracted. We were so freaked out and immediately jumped back to our car and left. IHMO, I never see such a messy situation in Japan.

"The Jigoku (Hells) of Beppu" - it's a very unique 8 hot springs in the area. It's much easier if you have a car to get around but if not, you could walk around, take a cab or a bus. There are eight kinds of "Hell" in the area, and my recommendation is "Umi Jigoku (ocean hell) - the blue color of the hot spring is quite stunning to see, and yes all these hells could get quite touristy but that's also because there's nowhere like it in the world. I don't remember what each Jigoku costs to get in, but the ticket that includes all the Jigokus are 2100 yen as of winter 2014. Out of 8 Jigokus, I admit, a few are a bit lame. If you are running out of time I recommend you skip "Yama (mountain) Jigoku" where it's just a crappy zoo, "Kamado (fireplace?) Jigoku" and maybe "Tatsumaki (Hurricane) Jigoku" too. The colors of the springs also change depending on seasons etc and that's quite cool. They have a hot spring inside the parks as well. Also there are "Ashiyu", where you can just soak your feet inside the hot water. It's quite hot but you'll see other people doing it there and it's fun. Don't forget to try out some of their local specialties, or "hot spring eggs" with their local soy sauce etc. They are good, unless you feel weird smelling the hot springs in your boiled eggs.