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Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour)

FamousEveryone goes here. We cover what the guidebooks skip: when it is quiet, and what is worth your time next door.

Researched and written by Hinato

jigokugeothermalhell tourBeppuhot springs

Photo: Raita Futo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · original

What sets Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour) apart from other natural sites in Oita is how much depends on conditions outside anyone's control.

Beppu's 'Hells' (地獄, jigoku) are seven spectacular geothermal hot springs too hot and chemically extreme for bathing — created purely for viewing. Each hell displays different natural phenomena: Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) is cobalt blue from dissolved minerals, Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pond Hell) is bright red from iron oxide, Tatsumaki Jigoku (Tornado Hell) erupts boiling water 20 meters high every 30 minutes. The water temperatures range from 95°C to 99.5°C.

Beppu sits atop the world's second-largest geothermal field (after Yellowstone) with over 2,800 active hot spring sources, making these viewing hells just a small sample of the underground thermal activity.

Our angle on Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour)

Planning around the crowd

Its own posted hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. That gives you exactly two windows you can plan from published information rather than from luck: be at the entrance for 8:00 AM, or come late enough that 5:00 PM is your deadline. It lists 2.5 hours for all seven hells at a steady pace as a typical visit, so the first slot is long enough to finish before the middle of the day. Everything between those two depends on the day, and we would be making it up if we told you otherwise.

Nobody else is going here

Everyone within a mile of Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour) is going to Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour). Here are 4 places within walking or one bus ride of it that almost nobody writes about — straight-line distances from our own catalogue, not travel times.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

2.5 hours for all seven hells at a steady pace

Hours

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Open year-round

Best time to visit

Year-round; morning (8:00–9:00) before tour buses; winter for most dramatic steam visibility

Entry fee

Combined 7-hell ticket ¥2,200. Individual hell ¥450. Jigoku tamago (hell eggs) ¥300 for 5.

Getting there

Access notes

Seven hells spread across two areas: 5 in Kannawa district, 2 in Shibaseki. Combined ticket: ¥2,200 (all 7), individual entry ¥450 each. Kannawa accessible by bus from Beppu Station (20 min).

Beyond the guidebook

**Optimal route:** Start at Umi Jigoku (largest, most photogenic) at opening time (8:00) before tour bus crowds. The seven-hell circuit takes 2.5 hours at a steady pace. Bring towel — the steam creates humidity that dampens clothing. **Oniishi Bozu Jigoku bonus:** This hell is included in the 7-hell ticket but often skipped. The bubbling gray mud creates 'monk head' formations (bozu = bald monk) as bubbles rise and burst — hypnotic to watch and uncrowded. **Jigoku tamago:** Eggs and vegetables boiled in the hell steam are sold at Umi Jigoku and Kamado Jigoku (¥300 for 5 eggs). The mineral water gives eggs a subtle sulfur flavor. Fresh pudding steamed in hell steam (jigoku mushi pudding, ¥350) is the signature dessert.

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