Japan's Onsen Capital — more hot spring output than anywhere else on earth, steam-cooked street food, and the otherworldly Hells of Beppu
Beppu, on the eastern coast of Kyushu, produces more hot spring water than any city on earth except Yellowstone — roughly 130,000 tons of hot mineral water per day from over 2,800 separate vents. The Jigoku Meguri ('Hell Circuit') tours eight boiling, brilliantly colored hot spring pools that can't be bathed in but are hypnotic to observe: the blood-red Umi Jigoku, the electric blue Umi Jigoku, and the crocodile-guarded Wani Jigoku are unmissable. Steam-cooked food (jigoku mushi — eggs, vegetables, and seafood steamed over natural hot spring vents) is the city's defining food experience, avai…
Beppu has been a spa town since at least the 8th century AD; the Nihon Shoki chronicles references hot spring bathing at this location. The city's development as a modern resort destination was driven by Aburaya Kumahachi, an entrepreneur who in the early 20th century developed the spa tourism infrastructure and promotional campaigns that established Beppu's national reputation — he is celebrated locally as the father of Beppu tourism, with a statue near the station. Oita Prefecture's close relationship with Beppu's hot spring culture has produced an extraordinary variety of onsen types: outd…