Explore the strange 'hell on earth' city in Japan

Standing out with its year-round "burning" display, Beppu city has become a famous tourist destination in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The city mentioned in this article is Beppu, a small city located on the island of Kyushu, Japan.

Beppu - Japan

The hot steam makes the city look like it's on fire all year round. And that's why people call Beppu "the burning city". Since Kyushu is one of the hot spots of geothermal phenomena, Beppu is no exception. The city has more than 2,900 geothermal vents spread throughout the city, spewing up to 13,000 tons of hot water every day.

But not only that, Beppu is also affectionately called by the locals... hell on earth! Partly because coming here at night, you will experience the foggy roads like the way to... the underworld. But perhaps mostly because the temperature of the hot springs here reaches nearly 100 degrees Celsius.

Because of that, the hot springs here are also called "hell".

But in return, hot water wells play a very important role for the city's residents. Many people boil water from the high temperature steam rising from the mouth of the boiling water well, some hot springs are pumped into pipes, providing hot water for daily use for families, businesses, restaurants...

And here, let's admire what "hell" this city has?

First is the Chinoike Jigoku hot spring - also known as "hell's blood lake" because of its strangely bloody color. This is a hot pond area containing sandstone, magnesium oxide, iron oxide - metals that give it a red color.

Next is Umi Jigoku - Beppu's "hell sea". The water here is clear and poetic, just like the beaches in Maldives. However, the water temperature is around... 98 degrees Celsius, enough to boil you if you intend to dive in.

Umi Jigoku

If you have the opportunity to visit Nha Trang, you will surely be familiar with mud bath services. Beppu also has this service, at Oniishibozu Jigoku area.

This place is nicknamed the hell... monk's head, because of the round lumps of mud that occasionally appear in the middle of the lake.

Oniishibozu Jigoku - the monk's head hell.

And this is Shiraike Jigoku - a hot spring area known as "milky white hell". The water and smoke here are sometimes milky white, due to the reaction between boric acid, salt, sodium silicate and calcium bicarbonate.

Beppu is truly a strange city. Here, every kind of hell exists, including hot pot hells like Kamada Jigoku.

Why hot pot? Because besides soaking your feet here, visitors can enjoy dishes cooked directly from this hot lake.

Kamado Jigoku

Oniyama Jigoku is a real hell, because this is where people raise giant crocodiles.

Oniyama Jigoku - Crocodile Hell.

This is Yama Jigoku - a hell mountain, because the hot spring here flows through the area of ​​a small mountain.

Yama Jigoku.

And finally, Tatsumaki Jigoku - a weird... hell. Tatsumaki Jigoku is a geyser that erupts every 30-40 minutes, lasting about 6-10 minutes each time.

This hot spring has extremely strong jets, up to 50m, but people have built a stone dome around it to prevent water from splashing on visitors.

Source: Amusingplanet