Harrison's JET Blog: Welcome to Hell

I've got a long one for you today.

This morning the girls went back to the onsens. They were trying out the sand bath, which is where you bury yourself in hot sand before rinsing off and getting in the water. I wasn't a fan of the idea myself, so I went for a walk in the park alone.

This is the Global Tower, a rather precarious-looking structure with a nice viewing platform.
I actually wanted to see the nearby art museum but the dang place was closed.

For lunch I had a nice chirashizushi.

The other three members of our party all got the tendon. I wasn't in the mood for fried food.

After lunch, went went to the main attraction, the tour of Beppu's seven hells!

Here's the brochure's introduction.

I don't know why there aren't more hell-themed tourist attractions.

First up, Umi Jigoku.

It was certainly very blue.

Behold, the greenhouse of HELL.

It was full of lilypads, obviously.

Second: Oniishibouzu Jigoku.

These pools are full of clay. Each one has three or four spots where gasses bubble up, pushing out rings of water. The clay is so thick that the displaced water doesn't move all the way out.

There wasn't an English placard at this hell, but the name refers to a monk's bald head. Because the large bubbles formed by the gases look like a monk's shaved bald head. That's the first thing you think of, right?

Hell number three: Kamado Jigoku. It had a heavy oni (Japanese demon) theme.

Even oni can care about the well-being of children.

Here's one of the eponymous cooking pots. This hell also had the most food on sale, many being things boiled in the hot springs, like eggs or corn on the cob.

Welcome to Hell.

What could this white substance be?

There was a tour group here and the guide was demonstrating the steam reaction with a cigarette. The increase in steam was actually very dramatic.

This one was thick and gloopy.

So many little tidbits of trivia. This hell was definitely the most English-friendly.

Here's the tomato soup pool.

A cool and spicy treat is ice cream with red or black pepper.

Cat stones.

They're so cute.

Hell number four: Oniyama Jigoku, or Demon Mountain Hell.

That's right, it's filled with crocodiles.

Don't let them bite you!

Crocodile skelly.

And little croc babbies!

So cute.

Here's the biggest pond of crocs.

Look at all these bros, just chilling. All up on each other.

A big ol' croc bro hug pile.

Hell five: Shiraike Jigoku.

Here's a tank of piranhas!

He's a chunky boy.

And here's a pretty red pirarucu.

Honestly, this one could have been whiter. It's certainly not the milk sea of Hindu mythology.

We stopped by Goemon for dessert. Incidentally, Ishikawa Goemon was a figure from Japanese history who is, likely apocryphally, known as the "Japanese Robin Hood". Well known is his death after failing to assassinate the emperor where he was executed by boiling in an iron pot. That may or may not be relevant, but it seemed appropriate for the location.