7 Boiling Hells of Beppu

Boiling water ponds, bubbling mud on the ground, and dozens of steam pillars rising to the sky, where the hell am I!? – Exactly there!
I travel to bathe in hot springs, but all the onsens of Beppu aren’t for dipping, as they are as hot as hell.
Today we’ll visit the fiery seven hells of Beppu, located in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu.

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Beppu has a nickname, Beppu Hatto, Beppu Eight. That confuses many travelers – are there seven or eight onsens?

Beppu is known as Japan’s onsen capital for a reason: There are more than 2500 hot springs in this town, the second most in the world. (Yellowstone, in case you are wondering.)
Hells of Beppu, Beppu no jigoku 別府の地獄, are the most famous ones, but they are only to admire, not to bathe in. These are the 7 boiling hells of Beppu.
Beppu Hatto, the 8, on the other hand, stands for famous onsen neighborhoods for bathing and healing.

The tourist course, which includes all seven hells, is called Beppu Jigoku Meguri 別府地獄めぐり. 
Five of the hells are located in Kannawa district and within walking distance of the starting point, Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell). The other two, located in Shibaseki district, are best reached by bus (or car, of course).
The entire course takes about three hours to complete. At least if you are fast. I took a whole day.

There are quite a few photos in this article, so if you have a laptop, I recommend switching your phone to it for a better experience.

History of the Hells of Beppu

These boiling, colorful waters and bubbling mud were feared as hell by the locals for more than a thousand years, hence the name.
According to local legend, the monk Ippen Shonin (1239-1289) calmed the hell and laid the base for a hot spring resort.

But it’s Aburaya Kumahachi (1863-1935), who’s known as the father of Beppu onsen tourism. He built the inns, developed the public transportation system, and introduced Japan’s first regular sightseeing bus tour. This is how hell tours became a popular tourist attraction, and Beppu grew into one of the leading onsen resorts in Japan.
Yes, that’s Aburaya Kumahachi standing in front of the Beppu station, as a bronze statue.

Beppu Jigoku Meguri

別府地獄めぐり

Beppu Seven Hells Tour

Jigoku 地獄 simply means hell, and Beppu Jigoku Meguri is the Beppu Hells Tour that tourists do here. And you should too!
You don’t need to book a tour, but guided tours are available. (More info at the end of this post.)

Do not enter, you have been warned. If I do, then what? Abandon all hope, ye who enter here? Let’s find out!

Umi Jigoku

海地獄

Sea Hell

Almost boiling hot Umi Jigoku (98 C) is the first and largest of the hells. If you have time for only one, I would choose this. The thing here is the turquoise Sea Hell, but quite a few visitors seem to miss the smaller hot springs here, which I actually preferred.
Bloody red ponds, steam dancing around rocks. I spent a lot of time here; embarrassing to confess, but I took photos of one rock for almost two hours. (See the three pics in the middle.)

Oniishi-bozu Jigoku

鬼石坊主地獄

Shaven Monk’s Head Hell

Grey boiling mud bubbles look like shaved heads, hence the name. Oniishi-bozu Jigoku also has a geyser called Oni no Takaibiki, demon’s snoring, as steam from underground is spitted out with a sound that resembles snoring. Sounds demonish, but these mud ponds are relaxing to watch.

Kamado Jigoku

かまど地獄

Cooking Pot Hell

Cooking pot hell or furnace hell, Kamado simply means a cooking stove. There are six different hells in Kamado Jigoku; they appear in turquoise and orange colors, and some are milky-looking as mud has dissolved in water. You can also bathe your face in a hot spring steam or take a free footbath.

Oniyama Jigoku

鬼山地獄

Demon Mountain Hell

Demon Mountain Hell is also known as Crocodile Hell. This was the first place in Japan to raise crocodiles. There are 70 of them, the biggest ones are four meters long and weigh 500 kilograms! Watch the crocodiles being fed on the weekends. Their facilities are, of course, heated with hot spring water.

Shiraike Jigoku

白池地獄

White Pond Hell

Shiraike Jigoku is a heart-shaped and milky-white pond. There is also a Tropical Fish Pavilion, which I skipped. This one wasn’t my favorite of the hells, but my feet were already aching after touring the hot springs for hours, to be honest.

After Shiraike Jigoku – and seeing the first five hells – it’s time to continue either back “home” or to visit the last two, which are a bit further away from the other ones. (Read the instructions for getting to the Shibaseki district at the end of the post.)
If you are running out of time, I’d say these are not must-visit places, but there is a reason to visit both for their uniqueness. Read on.

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Tatsumaki Jigoku

龍巻地獄

Tornado Hell

Tornado hell is actually a geysir. A 150-degree water and steam erupt every 30 to 40 minutes. This natural show lasts 6 to 10 minutes.
Certainly worth a visit if you haven’t seen geysers before, but for me, as a person from the Nordics, this wasn’t the most interesting part of the Beppu Jigoku Meguri Tour.
Fair enough, I was overwhelmed after a long day photographing all the beautiful hot springs, so I could share a different opinion if I had only visited this one first.

Chinoike Jigoku

血の池地獄

Blood Pond Hell

The sun was already setting when I reached Chinoike Jigoku, and it didn’t look that bloody anymore. That’s why it doesn’t look too intriguing in my picture, but it’s still worth a visit as it is the oldest natural hell in Japan with a history of over 1,300 years. The water in the pond looks as red as blood, hence the name.
Climb up to the observatory to see the best view of the pond.

Other fun things to do on the Beppu Hell Tour

Your feet will be burning as you’ll walk quite a lot in hell. Take your time and rest your feet in a hot spring before running to the next hell. Not in those boiling ones, but there are several foot bathing onsens along the way, included in your entrance ticket.

I can’t remember where exactly I filmed these animals, maybe it was Kamado Jigoku, but there is this little zoo somewhere around. As I popped into it accidentally, you will probably too. I feel a little sad seeing animals behind the fence, but there they are, if you want to see some flamingos and cabybaras.

And of course, eating is always a fun thing to do. Buy some snacks along the way. In Beppu, local food is a special experience; it’s made in hell.

Jigoku Mushi & Butaman

Hell’s Kitchen

Now, this is not jigoku, one of the hells, but a real hell’s kitchen serving heavenly food. The Kannawa district of Beppu is famous for its hell-steamed food, jigoku mushi. Local food cooked in onsen steam has a special aroma and is considered healthy, hence its minerals.
Jigoku mushi dates back to the Edo era (1603-1868), and it’s again becoming super popular.

There are restaurants specializing in steaming food with onsen heat, but you can’t miss the little stalls selling onsen food on the streets around Beppu Hells. Eggs cooked in steam are popular and traditionally combined with sweet potatoes and corn. Another local speciality is butaman, pork dumpling.
Try some on the way from Umi Jigoku to Oniishi Bozu Jigoku; right next to the parking lot and entrance of the latter jigoku, there is a place called Hitoyasumi Kobiri, ひと休み こびり.

You will also see this little kitchen selling dumplings, and dumplings only. If you like dumplings, you’ll love butaman. At least I do, but here I was even more fascinated by the continuously changing steam than food itself. I just couldn’t stop photographing the magic atmosphere.

Is Beppu Jigoku Meguri worth it?

Absolutely, the hells are astonishing!
But, especially if you have limited time, you could choose to visit only a couple of hells instead of all seven hells of Beppu. If I weren’t a photographer and a blogger, but a normal person, haha, I would probably visit only the first two, Umi Jigoku and Oniishi Bozu Jigoku. But I was curious to see them all, and I did.
I was photographing one rock for two hours. I’m not kidding. It’s there in the Umi Jigoku section (the first hell). Did you see it?
I was hypnotized watching the steam winding around that stone; hell was tempting me to stay.

It’s possible to tour all seven in a few hours, though, but I stayed until sunset. Which was disappointing. Not staying until, but because the sun was setting and I wasn’t ready to leave. Okay, I am a slow traveller anyway; while most people come to Beppu for two days, I stayed nine nights.
Go to hell, it’s beautiful there!

When is the best time to travel to the Beppu onsen town?

Summers are hot, and hells are hot as… you know. I think the best time to visit any onsen town is in the winter, but here, in Beppu, it depends on whether you are only sightseeing the Hells or planning to bathe too.
I stayed here at the beginning of October, and it was a pretty good time as I also did some mountain hiking and enjoyed hot baths after that.

Read also: Mt. Tsurumi – Hiking the Volcano in Oita