Beppu Hells Guide: Jigoku Meguri, Steam Cooking and Japanese to Use

Why Beppu's hells are worth seeing

Beppu sits on a line of volcanoes, and hot water comes up everywhere: under hotels, public baths, homes and roadside drains. The town has more hot spring sources than anywhere else in Japan. In Kannawa, the old onsen district on the hill above the sea, steam pours out of pipes and vents along the streets, and has done for centuries.

Some of the springs were too hot and too wild for bathing. Their boiling water, coloured by minerals and clay, looked to early visitors like the hells described in Buddhist teaching, and the name stuck. The hells were developed as sights in the early twentieth century, and the jigoku meguri, the hell tour, became one of Japan's classic sightseeing routes.

For a Japanese learner, the tour is ideal: the names of the hells are short, descriptive words you can read on the signs, and the ticket and food counters give you plenty of low-pressure chances to speak.

Getting there: buses from Beppu Station

Beppu Station is on the JR Nippō Line, about two hours from Hakata by the Limited Express Sonic. From the station, local buses run up the hill to Kannawa, the stop for the five main hells, in around fifteen to twenty minutes. From Kannawa, another short bus ride takes you to Chinoike and Tatsumaki, the two hells in the Shibaseki area; walking between the two areas takes around half an hour.

The tourist information centre at Beppu Station can help with bus routes and sells some passes. If you are staying in Kannawa, you can walk to the five main hells.

The seven hells

Each hell has its own character, and each is run as a small attraction with a gate, a shop and often a café. Umi Jigoku, Chinoike Jigoku, Tatsumaki Jigoku and Shiraike Jigoku are designated national Places of Scenic Beauty for their colours and forms.

• Umi Jigoku, the sea hell: a large cobalt-blue pond, with gardens, a small shrine and eggs boiled in the spring. Kannawa.
• Oniishi Bōzu Jigoku, the shaven-head hell: grey mud bubbles that swell like monks' heads, with a foot bath. Kannawa.
• Kamado Jigoku, the cooking-pot hell: several ponds of different colours, with staff demonstrations and snacks steamed in the spring. Kannawa.
• Oniyama Jigoku, the demon mountain hell: known for the crocodiles kept in its warm water. Kannawa.
• Shiraike Jigoku, the white pond hell: milky pale water in a Japanese garden. Kannawa.
• Chinoike Jigoku, the blood pond hell: a steaming red pond, the most photographed of all. Shibaseki.
• Tatsumaki Jigoku, the waterspout hell: a geyser that erupts regularly, every half an hour or so. Shibaseki.

Words on the signs and tickets

Once you know that 地獄 is jigoku, the hell names are easy to read: each one adds a word in front. 海 is sea, 血の池 is pool of blood, 白池 is white pond and 龍巻 is waterspout.

Japanese for tickets and jigoku-mushi steam cooking

The combined ticket is sold at the gate of every hell. Hand it over at each gate to have it checked. After the tour, try jigoku mushi, food steamed over the natural vents. Several restaurants in Kannawa serve it, and a public steam kitchen, Jigoku Mushi Kōbō Kannawa, lets you buy ingredients or bring your own, rent a steaming basket and cook them yourself over the vents.

Staff at the steam kitchen will tell you how long each ingredient needs and which oven to use. Listen for the numbers followed by fun, minutes.

Etiquette, timing and onsen tips

The hells are easy to visit, but a few tips make the day smoother, and you will want to bathe somewhere afterwards.

• Start at the Kannawa hells in the morning, then take the bus to Chinoike and Tatsumaki.
• Ask at Tatsumaki Jigoku when the next eruption is expected, so you are not waiting too long.
• Keep behind the barriers: the water in the hells is close to boiling.
• Bring a small towel for the foot baths; some hells have one.
• For bathing, choose one of Beppu's public baths or a ryokan; wash before entering the bath and keep your towel out of the water.
• Tattoos can be a problem at some baths; ask first or choose a private bath, kashikiri-buro.

Practise the hell tour before you go

The ticket window is where the tour starts, and the conversation is short. Practise the four lines below until you can say them without reading, and listen for the counter nanatsu, seven, and the word basutei, bus stop, in the replies.

Then practise with a partner who answers back. In Unihongo, choose the Onsen topic and ask your AI Sensei to play the ticket seller at Umi Jigoku, or choose Japanese Cuisine to rehearse ordering at a jigoku-mushi kitchen.

Official information

The Beppu Jigoku Association lists the seven hells, the combined ticket and any closures. Check it before you go for current prices and hours.

• Beppu Jigoku Meguri official website (Japanese)