"Chinoike Jigoku" (Blood pond hell), "Umi Jigoku" (Ocean hell), "Tatsumaki hell" (Tornado hell), "Shiraike Jigoku" (White pond hell), "Oni Ishi Bozu Jigoku" (Rock demon hell), "Oniyama Jigoku" (Demon mountain hell), "Kamado hell" (Hell's oven) We call the short tour of around 2 hours going to 7 "Jigoku" (hells) in Beppu, the "Jigoku tour."
This custom is old and remaining records show that it started in the Edo period.
This number of strange sceneries gathered in one region precisely because it is Beppu, which boasts the highest number of wellsprings and largest output.
And out of the 11 types of spring qualities of hot springs on this Earth, Beppu has 10 of them, which is precisely why this can be said of it.
Umi hell
National Site of Scenic Beauty
Umi Jigoku is a vast pond of hot water made by the explosion of Mt. Tsurumitake approximately 1,200 years ago. This pond was given its name due to its view of the sea. Umi Jigoku, the largest of all the Jigokus, is cobalt blue in color and boasts a beauty that is unworthy of being called Hell. It is also known for its "Victoria regia," lotuses so large that one could hold a human child
Tatsumaki hell
National Site of Scenic Beauty
Tatsumaki Jigoku has also been designated as a natural monument of Beppu and is a rare geyser that spouts hot water in extremely short intervals of 30-40 minutes. The hot water that is heartily spouted out is stemmed by the roof for safety, but it actually has enough power to shoot up to about 50 meters. It spouts out hot water together with the rise in hot underground water of approximately 150 degrees.
Shiraike Jigoku
National Site of Scenic Beauty
Hot water that is spouted out of a pond in a Japanese-style garden with a calm atmosphere. This hot water is transparent, but when it falls into the pond, due to the decrease in temperature and pressure, a mysterious phenomenon can be observed in which the color turns bluish-white. Shiraike Jigoku has a tropical fish aquarium that uses the heat from the hot spring and offers the opportunity to see various rare tropical fish including a stuffed giant arapaima, which lives in the Amazon, and human-eating piranhas. You can also enjoy the Mukaihara stone monument, which has been designated by the prefecture as an important cultural property, as well as the local museums, and so on
Oniishibozu Jigoku
In the Meiji period, it became a famous sightseeing facility as "Bozu Jigoku." The same Bozu Jigoku came back to life 40 years later as "Oniishibozu Jigoku." Its name came from how the sight of the hot mud boiling resembled a buzz cut, which is "bozu-atama" in Japanese. Oniishibozu Jigoku offers a footbath as well as strange rock zone that gives off thunderous sounds called "Oni no Nedoko" (lit: demon's bed) and a hot spring facility called "Oniishi no Yu" (charged separately)
Oniyama Jigoku
Snap! The large sound of a crocodile snapping its jaw shut reverberates. The strength of a crocodile's bite can go up to 1 ton and if you understand hell ("jigoku" in Japanese) to mean terror, then this can be said to be the most hell-like hell. It was the first to start rearing crocodiles with hot spring heat in Japan and is currently rearing about 100 crocodiles from all over the world. You can also see stuffed giant crocodiles and their skeletons, but most of all, you cannot miss the earlier-mentioned "crocodile feeding." You will definitely be overwhelmed by the impact of an entire chicken being swallowed in one gulp
Kamado Jigoku
At Kamado Jigoku, hot spring that is 90 degrees gushes out together with gas. It was given its name because, since ancient times, the rice used as an offering was cooked with the gas from the Jigoku for the Ujigami's Kamado Hachimangu Shrine Festival. This Jigoku has various hell ponds named Block 1 to Block 6, a footbath, hot drinking water, and more and can be enjoyed for a long time.