Picking up where the last post left off, on the second day of our little Oita week-end trip. After the first day’s hot springs and harmony, we embarked on a day with hot springs and hell. In Beppu, a town famous for its many onsen, there is a collection of seven hot springs called Beppu Jigoku, or the Hells of Beppu. These hot springs are boiling hot and include blue water ponds, bubbling mud, a blood red pool, a geyser, and lots of steam. That they are called hells is easy too understand once you are there and add a little imagination when you explore the sites, and they have made the most of this nickname to add to the hell-connotation, even making the signs to the nursing room hell-inspired. And of course, as often happens in Japan when tourist hot-spots are being made English-speaker-friendly, there are a lot of cute English translations to enjoy as a bonus to the actual attraction.
There was a little paradise to be found in hell however – hot spring foot bath where you could take off your shoes and socks and soak your feet in lovely onsen water while enjoying spending a morning in the Hells of Beppu. I do love doing touristy things in Japan.
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