A Cold Day in Hell

January 30, 2011

All Pictures

Beppu Hell Onsen
(Beppu Jigoku)
(別府地獄)

How to get there:

From Oita City -

• Head north on route 10.
• Turn left on route 500. (The turn is just before the Las Vagas pachinko parlor.)
• Keep on 500,
• then turn right at the light after the intersection with route 218. You should see lot of steam rising from the ground.
• Park anywhere that’s reasonable.
• Six of the Hell osens are within walking distance of each other.
• There are two others that are about a 5 minute drive from the directions given above.

By Bus -

• Take bus #2, #5, #9, #41, or #43 from JR Beppu Station to the Umijigoku-mae stop

Address:

There are 8 Hell Onsens. Seven of which, are within a walking distance from each other. The other two are a bus or car ride away. Please ask at the ticket counter for bus information.

1. Umi Jigoku 

別府地獄めぐり
日本
〒874-0000 大分県別府市大字鉄輪５５９−１
0977-66-1577 

2. Oniishibozu Jigoku

3. Yama Jigoku

4. Kamado Jigoku (Cooking Pot Hell)

かまど地獄
日本
〒874-0045 大分県別府市御幸５
0977-66-0178

5. Oniyama Jigoku 

6. Shiraike Jigoku 

7. Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Onsen) 

別府 血の池地獄
野田778 Beppu, Oita Prefecture 874-0016, Japan

8. Tatsumaki Jigoku 

Phone:

• 0977-66-1577

Website (Blood Onsen)

Download:

• pamphlet jpg

Cost:

• 400YEN each or
• 2,000YEN for all 8

Hours:

• 8:00 – 17:00
• Go to Tatsumaki-Jigoku (the onsen with the geyser last if you’re running out of time because this one stays open later so that visitor can see the geyser blow at the end of the day.)

Notes:

• It might not be worth a trip all the way to Beppu just to see this. But if you are in Oita prefecture, why not?
• You cannot get into any of the hell onsen. There are a couple that you can put your feet into, but no full body soaking.

Map:

View Larger Map

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I finally went to Hell.

I have been planning on going to Hell since my mom and nephew came to visit. The list of reason I haven’t gone yet just kept getting longer and longer. When Mark got back to Japan from his trip to Korea I told him that he had to take me to Hell. Every weekend since we have planned to go, but something has always come up.

Then this week we decided to put away all our excuses and go to Hell. We were going to wake up early-ish on Saturday and make a day of it. But that didn’t happen.

We actually spent the day watching Star Trek. (Yes, I said it!) By noon, we did not feel like going out into the cold and driving to Beppu. But we promised each other that Sunday would be the day for Hell.

Is that snow!?

On Sunday we got up early-ish, got dressed, and headed out the door. When we opened to door of the apartment we saw that it was snowing. A part of me wanted to turn right around and stay in my warm apartment, but I knew that if I didn’t go that day, I would never go.

Lamer in Person

I have to say that photos of Beppu’s Hell doesn’t do it justice. Wait, I mean it does it more than justice. It looks way cooler in pictures than it does in real life. And that’s not just because I was cold the whole time. The pictures make Beppu’s Hell out to be a super excited and exotic steamy place, but it’s just steamy. Plus there’s no rotting egg smell in the photos.

The “zoo” at one of the osens is very sad. They have a hippo, an elephant, and some flamingos freezing out in the snow. I’m not sure, but I think that counts as cruelty to animals.

The osens are nice to look at, but not as nice and the pictures present them. It would be better if people could get in and warm up. But the hot springs are too hot for that. It would literally cook you if you fell in. In fact, at one of the Osens, you can buy eggs that were cooked in the hot spring.

I recommend a visit if you’re in the neighborhood, but don’t come all the way out here for this.

All Pictures

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