Sea Hell
Blue, at 98°C.
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Hot springs in the famous onsen city of Beppu, called «hells» for their boiling water, steam and strange colours; they are for viewing, not bathing. The circuit that takes them in is the Jigoku Meguri, or «hell tour», and four of them have been a national Place of Scenic Beauty since 2009. The best known is Umi Jigoku, the Sea Hell, whose clear blue water reaches 98°C and is used to boil eggs; it began charging visitors in 1910. Chinoike, the Blood Pond, is red from iron-rich clay, and Tatsumaki spouts a geyser of hot water roughly every half hour. The circuit also includes Oniishi Bōzu, with pools of grey mud whose bubbles look like monks' shaved heads, Kamado, the «cooking pot», with pools of many colours, Shiraike, the White Pond, and Oniyama, where crocodiles are raised in the springs' heat. Five are within walking distance in Kannawa and two are a bus ride away in Shibaseki; the tour takes two to two and a half hours. Each hell costs about 500 yen, or about 2,400 yen for a combined ticket to all seven, per visitor guides. Food steamed over the springs is sold in the area.
Blue, at 98°C.
Red water.
Every half hour.
Kannawa and Shibaseki, Beppu
No, the hells are for viewing only as the water is far too hot; bathe in Beppu's many hot-spring baths instead.