Sulfur Mountain in Beppu

About 40 minutes’ drive from the center of the city of Beppu, there is a sulfur mountain near the top of a volcano called Garandake. Specialists say that there is a magma reservoir about 10 kilometers below this mountain and that this reservoir is the heat source of hot springs in Beppu and Yufuin. Interesting! Near the sulfur mountain, there is a public hot spring bath house, Tsukahara Onsen.

Open-air Bath at Tsukahara Onsen

Eggs steamed using sulfur mountain steam

View of Beppu on the way to Garandake Volcano

Community Bath Houses in Beppu

In Beppu, there are about 100 so-called “community bath houses.” A community bath house is a public hot spring bath house. It is usually small and run by the people of the community where the bath house is located. People pay about 1,000 yen per month to be a member of a bath house. Then, they can take a hot spring bath every day in that bath house. Many of those bath houses accept guest bathers, including tourists, at 100 yen. Here are some pictures of four hot spring bath houses which are located near JR Beppu Station.

Kaimiya Onsen Foot Bath

Sign which shows the way to Kamiya Onsen

Inside Kamiya Onsen

Nageshi Onsen Engrance

Suehiro Onsen Entrance

Inside Suehiro Onsen

Wall Painting in Suehiro Onsen which depicts Mt. Yufu

Kotobuki Onsen Entrance

Kotobuki Onsen Entrance Door Sign

2nd Anniversary of Onsen Meisters' Association Held in Beppu

To commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the Onsen Meisters' Association, a talk event was held on August 6, 2017 in Beppu. The participants were enthusiastic onsen fans. For a little more detail about what is onsen meister, please refer to my previous article.