Onsen, "hells" & steam-cooked food
Beppu
別府 · City of steaming springs
Japan’s onsen capital, where columns of steam rise from the hillsides day and night. Beppu pours out more hot-spring water than anywhere in the country — from soothing sand baths to the vividly colored boiling "hells".
Top sightsSights
The Hells of Beppu
A tour of vividly colored boiling ponds — cobalt-blue, blood-red and more (for viewing, not bathing).
Sand baths
Get buried in naturally heated volcanic sand by the sea at Takegawara.
Myoban Onsen
Thatched huts producing "hot-spring flower" bath salts on a steaming hillside.
Mount Tsurumi ropeway
A cable car to panoramic views over the steaming bay.
Jigoku-mushi steam cooking
Cook your own seafood and vegetables in natural hot-spring steam.
What to eatFood
Jigoku-mushi
Food steamed over the hot springs, pure and clean-tasting.
Toriten
Oita-style tempura-battered fried chicken.
Reimen
Chewy cold noodles in a chilled broth, a local favorite.
Good to know
- Buy a combined pass if you plan to see several of the Hells.
- Nearby Yufuin is a chic hot-spring town worth pairing with Beppu.
- Steam is everywhere — expect a faint sulfur scent around town.
Getting there
Oita Airport (OIT) nearby; limited-express trains from Fukuoka (Hakata) in ~2h.
Next city
Nagasaki