Hells of Beppu

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Aerial view of Umi Jigoku or "Sea Hell" 180131 Umi-Jigoku.jpg
Aerial view of Umi Jigoku or "Sea Hell"

The hot spring system Hells of Beppu (別府の地獄, Beppu no jigoku) is a nationally designated "Place of Scenic Beauty" in the onsen town of Beppu, Ōita, Japan. [1] The "hells," or "jigoku" (地獄) in Japanese, are for viewing rather than bathing. [2]

Contents

Hells of the Beppu Jigoku Meguri

The tourist course which includes all of the seven hells is called Beppu Jigoku Meguri (別府地獄めぐり). [3] [4] Five of the hells are within walking distance of the starting point (Sea Hell) and two of them should be accessed by car or bus. The entire course takes about two to two and a half hours to complete. [5]

Sea Hell

The "Sea Hell" (海地獄, Umi Jigoku) is known for its vibrant blue-colored water. [3] The water, which is 98 degrees Celsius, is used to boil onsen tamago (or "onsen eggs"). This is the starting point of the Jigoku Meguri tour. [5]

The cobalt-blue Sea Hell Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) in Beppu.jpg
The cobalt-blue Sea Hell

Oniishibozu Hell

This hell consists of ponds of boiling gray mud. It is referred to as the "Oniishibozu Hell" (鬼石坊主地獄, Oniishibozu Jigoku) due to the bubbles of mud resembling the bald head of a Buddhist monk (Bōzu means Buddhist monk in Japanese).

Boiling mud of the Oniishibozu Hell which is said to resemble a monk's bald head Bozu-jigoku 2010-01-02 (4267213063).jpg
Boiling mud of the Oniishibozu Hell which is said to resemble a monk's bald head

Kamado Hell

Kamado Hell (かまど地獄, Kamado Jigoku) or "Furnace Hell" has a variety of hells with one of them changing color depending on the temperature and weather. [5]

Crocodile Hell

Oniyama Jigoku (鬼山地獄), often called "Crocodile Hell," contains about 80 crocodiles. It was the first crocodile breeding facility in Japan, and the heat of the hells creates a suitable habitat for the crocodiles. [5] [6]

Shiraike Hell

Shiraike Jigoku (白池地獄) literally means "white pond hell." The water of this hell is light blue and located next to a tropical fish aquarium. The steam of the hell allows the aquarium to hold fish such as pirarucus and piranhas. [5]

Chinoike Hell

Chinoike Jigoku (血の池地獄) literally means "blood pond hell." The name comes from its red-colored hot mud. It is the oldest natural hell in Japan. [5] This hell is about 10 minutes by bus or car from the previous hells. [5]

Chinoike Hell named for its blood-like color Beppu Chinoike-jigoku01n4272.jpg
Chinoike Hell named for its blood-like color

Tatsumaki Hell

Tatsumaki Jigoku (龍巻地獄), which means "tornado hell," is the only of the hells which is a geyser. It erupts every 30-40 minutes. A roof was installed over the geyser to allow spectators to watch the eruption from a close distance. Without the roof, the geyser would reach 30 meters into the air. [5] This hell is located next to the Chinoike Hell. [5]

Tatsumaki Hell erupting Beppu Tatsumaki-jigoku03s5s4272.jpg
Tatsumaki Hell erupting

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyushu</span> Island and region of Japan

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands. In the past, it has been known as Kyūkoku, Chinzei and Tsukushi-no-shima. The historical regional name Saikaidō referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of 36,782 square kilometres (14,202 sq mi) and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ōita Prefecture</span> Prefecture of Japan

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2. Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumamoto Prefecture to the southwest, and Miyazaki Prefecture to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beppu</span> City in Kyushu, Japan

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of November 30, 2023, the city had a population of 113,045 in 62,702 households, and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 125.34 km2 (48.39 sq mi). Beppu is famous for its hot springs. In 2024, Beppu celebrated its centennary as a city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nue</span> Creature in Japanese folklore

The Nue is a legendary yōkai or mononoke from Japanese mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese pitch accent</span> Japanese language feature

Japanese pitch accent is a feature of the Japanese language that distinguishes words by accenting particular morae in most Japanese dialects. The nature and location of the accent for a given word may vary between dialects. For instance, the word for "river" is in the Tokyo dialect, with the accent on the second mora, but in the Kansai dialect it is. A final or is often devoiced to or after a downstep and an unvoiced consonant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Assault Team</span> Japanese police tactical units

The Special Assault Team is a police tactical unit maintained by individual Japanese prefectural police forces and supervised by the National Police Agency. It is a national-level counterterrorism unit that cooperates with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads. Most information on the unit has been confidential, its existence officially revealed only in 1996.

<i>Idol Project</i> 1995 anime series

Idol Project is a short four-episode original video animation (OAV) series produced in 1995 by Studio OX. This anime follows a cute 14-year-old girl named Mimu Emilton, who dreams of becoming a singing idol, much like her own idol, Yuri. Yuri brought world peace through her music and became the world's president. Mimu has a chance to audition in her hometown of Starland in front of Yuri, with the help of 6 "Excellent Idols".

<i>Bonze Adventure</i> 1988 video game

Bonze Adventure, known in Japan as Jigoku Meguri, is a platform game developed by Taito and released in arcades in 1988. A PC Engine port was published in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mell</span> Japanese electronic music singer

Mell is a female Japanese singer from Sapporo, Japan, who is signed to Geneon Universal Entertainment. She is a former member of the Sapporo-based I've Sound, and one of its main vocalists. Mell has contributed vocals to several anime soundtracks including Black Lagoon, Hayate the Combat Butler, Rideback, Shakugan no Shana, and Sky Girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yagan Railway</span> Third-sector Japanese railway company

The Yagan Railway Co., Ltd. is a third-sector Japanese railway company whose major shareholders include the Tochigi and Fukushima prefectural governments. It operates a single railway line, the Aizu Kinugawa Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aizu Line</span> Railway line in Fukushima prefecture, Japan

The Aizu Railway Aizu Line is a 57.4 km (35.7 mi) long railway line from Nishi-Wakamatsu Station in Aizuwakamatsu to Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi Station in Minamiaizu, Fukushima, Japan. It is owned and operated by Aizu Railway.

Gakuto Mikumo is a Japanese writer of mystery and science fiction light novels from the Oita Prefecture in Japan. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beppu Onsen</span> Hot spring system in Japan

Beppu Onsen (別府温泉) is an extensive hot spring system in the city of Beppu, Ōita, Japan. There are eight distinct major thermal spring zones called "Beppu Hatto"(別府八湯).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elly Akira</span> Japanese pornographic actress (born 1986)

Elly Akira is a Japanese AV actress and adult model. She was formerly known as Yuka Osawa and Hitomi Nishikawa. A highly prolific performer, she had appeared in more than 900 adult videos, with 800 currently listed on the site of the major Japanese video retailer DMM.

Ilana Halperin is an artist with an interest in the relationships between geological phenomena and daily life. Her artwork is produced using a variety of media, writing, performance, printmaking, sculpture, drawing, and film. She lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland.

Onsen Musume (japanese: 温泉むすめ) is a Japanese multimedia project featuring anime characters within the theme of onsen. The characters anthropomorphize onsen as entities in anime, manga, and video games about them. The project began in November 2016, with an accompanying music video by Doga Kobo in 2017. They also have live concerts and events with the characters' voice actresses.

The Kunisaki Peninsula is a peninsula in northern Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan that juts out into the Seto Inland Sea. The peninsula is almost circular. There is Mount Futago in the central part of the peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden</span> Monkey park in Ōita City, Ōita Prefecture

Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden, also called Takasakiyama Monkey Park, is a park located in Ōita City, Ōita Prefecture on Mount Takasaki known for its many wild Japanese macaques.

References

  1. "別府の地獄". Agency for Cultural Affairs . Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  2. Gartelman, Stephanie (23 February 2000). "Heaven in Beppu's hot spring hells". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Hells of Beppu". Visit Kyushu. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  4. "Hells of Beppu". Japan Travel. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Beppu Hell Tour Course". Beppu Tourism. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  6. "【べっぷ地獄めぐり】地獄を体感!7つの地獄を巡ろう!". Fukuoka - Oita. Retrieved 12 June 2024.

33°18′58″N131°28′8″E / 33.31611°N 131.46889°E / 33.31611; 131.46889