Hot springs in Beppu

A hillside hot spring area on the forested slopes of Mount Tsurumi on the southern edge of Beppu, Oita Prefecture. The name comes from Kankaiji Temple, meaning the Temple Overlooking the Sea, which stands above the district with panoramic views across Beppu Bay. The springs here draw from the broader Beppu Hatto volcanic system and are part of one of Japan's most geothermally active landscapes.

The most geothermally active city in Japan. Beppu has over 2,900 hot spring vents within its city limits and eight distinct thermal spring zones called the Beppu Hatto. The range here is remarkable: from grand hotel baths to neighborhood public facilities to the famous Hells, a series of dramatically colored boiling pools that are too hot to bathe in but spectacular to walk around.

A hot spring resort on the forested hillside of Beppu's Myoban district, known for the distinctive yunohana, or hot spring flowers: white crystalline deposits that form naturally when spring steam condenses on cool surfaces. The waters here are strongly acidic and sulfurous, emerging at high temperatures from one of the eight volcanic spring zones of Beppu Hatto.

A much-loved public bathhouse in Beppu's Kannawa steam district offering seven distinct spring waters, a hot-sand bath, a waterfall pool, private family rooms, and an outdoor rotenburo. All in one complex wrapped in rising geothermal steam. It is the only onsen in Japan to have been awarded three Michelin Stars.