The Seven Hells of Beppu: Japan's Onsen Wonders

Japan is famous for its hot springs (onsen). All across the country you'll find spa towns, large and small, where you can immerse yourself in pleasantly warm spring water. Bathing in the hot springs is a way to escape everyday life, to unwind and, so it's believed, to enjoy healing benefits too.

The town of Beppu in Oita Prefecture, in the south of the country, is one of the best places for onsen. Many of Beppu's hot springs have been developed by hotels or bathhouses and are used for popular spa cures.

Beppu is home to some very special springs, known as the “Hells of Beppu”. These seven hot springs in the onsen town are so hot that it's impossible to bathe in them. Instead, they treat visitors to fascinating natural spectacles that are well worth seeing.

The Hells of Beppu owe their name to the region's farmers, whose crops the springs once destroyed with the heat they gave off. That said, we're perfectly happy with the explanation that water this hot, rising up out of the earth, could only spring from hell itself!

And so this is what the seven Hells of Beppu are called:

1. Chinoike Jigoku

2. Tatsumaki Jigoku

3. Oniyama Jigoku

4. Shiraike Jigoku

5. Umi Jigoku

6. Oniishibozu Jigoku

7. Kamado Jigoku

Each of the hells (known as “jigoku”) has its own distinctive character: red or turquoise-blue water, bubbling fountains, boiling mud or crocodiles. Nestled amid picturesque landscapes and enchanting gardens, they offer visitors a truly special experience. They can be visited individually or as part of a tour of the Hells of Beppu.

Of the seven Hells of Beppu, Chinoike Jigoku (literally “the hell of the blood pond”) is a real visual spectacle. This spring gushes forth hot, reddish water. This unusual colour is beautiful to behold and is caused by the iron oxide in the mud.

Chinoike Jigoku has a history going back more than 1,300 years. The red mud has been used since time immemorial for medicinal purposes and as a dye.

As with the other “hells”, the water of this spring is so hot that a full-body bath would put your life at risk. Some of the water is cooled on site, however, which means you can take a foot bath in it.

If you'd like to take the healing properties of Chinoike Jigoku home with you, you can buy an ointment made with spring water or other preparations on site.

The heat of the spring is even put to use by the local restaurant. There you can warm up your food with steam from the spring, such as the dumplings typical of Oita Prefecture.

Right next to Chinoike Jigoku and every bit as spectacular is Tatsumaki Jigoku. This is a geyser that erupts every 30 to 40 minutes and pushes hot water and steam into the air at up to 150 °C for six to ten minutes. Hence its name, which translates as “tornado”.

The jet of water has such force that it could rise up to 50 metres high. To protect the surrounding buildings and people, however, a stone barrier has been built to slow the geyser down. The heat of the spring spreads with the steam, so it can be felt even from a safe distance.

If you visit Tatsumaki Jigoku in April and May, you can also enjoy the rhododendron flowers that grow around the spring.

Oniyama Jigoku is the name of another of the seven hells. The water of this spring bubbles away at just under 100 °C, so it's extremely hot. As well as the hot spring, this hell has another distinctive feature: around 70 crocodiles have made their home here and are bred on the site. Breeding these animals is made possible by the warm ambient temperatures of the spring. Visitors can watch the feeding and admire the eggs and the young during and after the breeding season. The crocodiles have been here since 1923. A small exhibition tells visitors about the history of the complex.

If you'd like to admire other aquatic creatures besides the crocodiles, you can do so at Shiraike Jigoku. Thanks to the pleasantly warm temperatures, tropical fish feel right at home here. The water tanks are heated to between 26 °C and 30 °C using the heat of the spring. There are species to see such as the pirarucu, the piranha and the Scleropages jardinii.

The spring opened in 1931. Its 95 °C water is milky and pale blue, and contains high levels of salt and silica, an important nutrient for healthy skin cells. Owing to its high temperature, sadly you can't bathe in it.

The pretty Japanese garden, laid out in a circle around the spring, invites you to relax and unwind by way of compensation. Art lovers will find something to enjoy here too: the complex runs a small exhibition of unusual paintings and drawings from Oita Prefecture.

“Umi” means “sea”, and that's exactly what Umi Jigoku looks like: a little sea of turquoise-blue water. The spring owes its lovely colour to its high iron sulphate content. The water temperature here reaches 98 °C. You can therefore only immerse yourself in this spring in a separate, cooled pool, and even then starting with your feet.

The complex around Umi Jigoku forms a charming garden where tropical plants thrive thanks to the warm temperatures. The giant Amazonian water lily and various species of flower, for example, are able to grow here.

If you're feeling peckish, you can tuck into hard-boiled eggs or pudding and rolls steamed in the spring water.

If you're expecting steaming spring water when you visit a hot spring, Oniishibozu Jigoku will leave you amazed! For instead of water, it's mud that bubbles away here! You can watch this most unusual natural spectacle in several pools. The pale-grey mud is quite literally at boiling point. Right next to it, a geyser tirelessly spews steam into the air, accompanied by a hypnotic rumbling sound.

Once again, don't miss the chance to bathe in the spring water cooled to pleasantly warm temperatures, and to sample various treats such as steamed pudding and Xiaolongbao dumplings!

If you're short on time and can visit only one of the seven Hells of Beppu, Kamado Jigoku is the ideal spot not to miss. Here you can admire a whole host of different springs.

Those who still haven't had their fill of bubbling mud will be delighted by Kamado Jigoku. Here too, boiling mud bubbles rise to the surface of the water. There's a turquoise-blue spring that looks like the water of a tropical island paradise. Red water gushes from another spring.

You can even drink the water from yet another spring – a special opportunity that rarely presents itself in Japan. Those who'd like to see for themselves the healing virtues of the spring water can also have their hands, feet, neck and skin pampered with the steam.