Beppu [別府市] | JBinnacle

Beppu is, as I said before, known for having a lot of volcanic vents. It has decided to exploit this as a tourist resource. Beppu is still trying to open up to foreigners. It’s trying, at least partially. So cheers to the nice people.

The main attraction are the Jigoku [地獄] or hells, which are, depending on who you ask, seven, eight or nine. I visited eight of them. They are spectacular hot springs and vents which are too hot for bathing but really interesting to look at. The whole pack is called Beppu Jigoku Meguri [別府地獄めぐり]

I got myself a map, bought a ticket pack and a bus pass, and set off to the bus. Most of the jigoku are located in the Kannawa [鉄輪] District, but two of them are pretty far away, in Shibaseki [柴石] (2 km is far in the boiling summer, if the weather had been nicer, I would have walked back and forth).

I visited the Onishibozu Jigoku [鬼石坊主地獄] (Hell of the Demon-monk) which is a boiling mud puddle and a strong sulphur smell. I did not manage to get any bubble exploding, but the idea is that the bubbling mud looks like a monk’s shaved head.

Second I headed walked into the Umi Jigoku [海地獄] (Sea Hell), which is a turquoise pond of boiling water with a small shrine. It also has a smaller reddish pond to one of the sides.

After this I took a break to have a made-in-hot-spring-water pudding and have something to drink, just because I could. It was delicious.

And there was Onsen Jinja [温泉神社] (Hot Spring Shrine) to snoop around, too!

Third, I dropped by the Yama Jigoku [山地獄] (Mountain Hell), which comes off from the mountain slope and complements that it is not the most spectacular one with having a small petting zoo, where I somehow ended up feeding a capybara. Don’t ask me XD (This hell is independent, so you have to pay extra to come into it).

Fourth, I went to the Kamado Jigoku [かまど地獄] (Cooking Pot Hell) which has a big oni cook to greet you.

Fifth, I found the Oniyama Jigoku [鬼山地獄] (Devil Mountain Hell) which for some reason breeds crocodiles, and what the hell, that was scary for a second. Even if they were behind bards, the crocs would follow you under the water and snip at your shadow and some of them were enormous! Creepy! The hot-spring itself was not that impressive but basically because it was steaming too much to see any of it.

Sixth, I went to the Shiraike Jigoku [白池地獄] (White Pond Hell) where there was nobody to take my ticket. A nice old couple explained that I was to cut it myself and put it in a jar over there. We were talking a little and they asked where I was from. Then they continued on their way and I stayed petting a random cat who decided I was to scratch it right then and there. In this jigokku they also have a small aquarium with several tank of freshwater fish, among them “man-eating piranhas”…

I took the bus then to Shibaseki where the other two remaining hells were. Had the weather been more agreeable I would have walked, but I had the bus pass anyway and it was very hot. As I stepped out of the bus I came across the same couple from before. they explained that they had visited Spain before when they were younger and told me that they were from Osaka. We parted ways to go into the Chinoike Jigoku [血の池地獄] (Blood Pond Hell) which is a boiling red pond. Here I decided to take a foot bath as the area was empty and I was tired.

The final hell was Tatsumaki Jigoku [龍巻地獄] (Spout hell), a geyser you have to wait for, as it has its own timing. Here the old couple brought me a lemonade because they were adorable. And after the geyser it was over, or so I thought.

I had decided to give the aquarium a miss, because I was very tired but when I was taking pictures of the “castle” from afar I decided… I could not miss the chance, so I took the bus again towards Kifune-jo [貴船城] (which is quite new but pretty enough). Unfortunately the bus stopped right at the foot of the hill, so I had to go up and climb all the slope. I arrived just in time to pray to a snake which is supposed to bring happiness to whomever pats it.

After the castle I headed back downtown and took the train to backtrack to Kokura / Kitakyuushu [小倉 / 北九州]. While it is true that I had passed Kokura on my way from Fukuoka to Beppu, the idea was always to spend the minimum time on a train per day, but I wanted to combine Kokura with Okayama and make the following day a “castle day”.

Once in Kokura I checked in and went to see Kokura-jo [小倉城] by night.

Dazaifu [大宰府] was the neuralgic centre of the island of Kyushu between the 7th and the 12th century. Today is sort to Fukuoka what Nikko is to Tokyo. Nowadays it is mostly known for its temples and shrines. It has a central core close to the station where you get around quite easily and a few things off the way which… are an adventure to get to.

I started the day visiting Dazaifu Tenmangu [大宰府天満宮], which was crawling with tourists to the point that it was hard to walk at times. It is a big shrine with a huge bridge over a pond in the shape of 心.

Afterwards I got myself a bottle of water and climbed up to Tenkai Inari Jinja [天開稲荷神社] which would have been really, really awesome and creepy if I had been alone, but alas, there were a bunch of other tourists along. It was quite of a climb up so the number was fewer, which made it less crowded though.

After climbing down I wandered around and passed a tiny shrine on the bank of Aizome River [藍染川] the place of a rebirth of a woman named Umetsubo. There is also a small shrine and a “historical site.”

After this I reached Kōmyōzen-ji [光明禅寺], a Zen temple with a great garden, but no pictures were allowed, and you could not really walk through the gardens. However, it was much, much emptier and nicer.

It was now when I decided to head out to the Kanzeon-ji [観世音寺]…

… and Kaidan-in [戒壇院], along with the so called Bonsho Bell.

In order to get here the map sent me through rather bad roads, and it got scary for a second when a car was coming. Furthermore, the signposts were all messed up, making it hard to follow them and the map. But in the end I made it and even if I did not enter the museum, I felt accomplished.

On the other side of the road you could climb up to Hiyoshi Jinja [日吉神社], a tiny and quiet shrine on top of a hill that I really liked – I thought the kami would be bored so I dropped them a prayer too.

After all this I still had a few things left, but I was very tired and there was a storm brewing, so I backtracked to Fukuoka, where I had slept, gathered my luggage and was ready to take a train to my next destination when I unexpectedly met with a VAMPS fan friend, the same one D****e and I ran into at Kumamoto castle! Small world! We had ramen – Hakata ramen, of course – together and then I took the train towards my next destination, on the other side of Kyushu: Beppu.

Beppu [別府] is a small town on the side of a volcano known for its hot springs because it’s on the slope of a volcano named Tsurumi-dake [鶴見岳]. It has almost 3000 volcanic spring vents and it is a bloody amazing place!

I checked into the hotel and almost immediately walked out because the hotel was right next to Beppu Tower [別府タワー]. However I got distracted by Matogahama Koen [的ケ浜公園] and the beach and the breakwaters.

Finally I climbed up to the tower and looked around the city. I was a little disappointed because I was expecting to see some of the vents or at least a spark coming for the volcano, but it did not happen.

Afterwards I walked down to the hotel and spent an hour in the public bath that they had, which was really, really good for relaxing. And then I collapsed in bed and got some sleep because there was a big day the following day!

(I have to say here that I have decided to omit here most of the ‘blergh’ part of this trip in order to keep only the nice memories, thus the upcoming posts are a bit edited. So I’m not telling you about the unfriendly people I met in the way and that made me feel a bit sad. Just the friendly ones because they rock! )