The Smoking Hot Springs of Beppu, Japan

The Japanese island of Kyushu is a hotbed of geothermal activity, thanks to the country’s most active volcano Mt Aso, that the island is home to. The most famous of these natural hot springs are located near Beppu, a small city tucked between a bay of the Inland Sea and two dormant volcanoes on the east shore of the island. Beppu has more than 2,900 hot spring vents that discharges more than 130,000 tons of hot water from the ground every day, second only to that of the Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Vapors rising up from these vents make it seem as if the entire city is on fire. Of particular interest are the “Jigokus” or “Hells” —the city’s famed steaming hot springs. Beppu has eight famous jigokus, and they are indeed, hell on earth. These hot springs have temperatures that ranges from 50 to 99.5 °Celsius. Needless to say, the jigokus are not suitable for bathing, but they the most popular attraction in the city. Steam escaping out of thousands of vents in Beppu. Photo credit: seiko tomono/Flickr Photo credit: Thomas/Flickr Aside from tourism, the numerous hot springs of Beppu play an important part in the daily lives of the city's residents. Steam from wells is used to heat water which is delivered by pipes to homes and businesses. Some of it goes into homes and restaurants for cooking. The water is also used for agricultural research, physical therapy and recreational bathing. Of course, Beppu is the largest hot spring resort in the world. Chinoike Jigoku The most spectacular of Beppu’s hot springs is the vermillion-colored Chinoike Jigoku or “blood pond hell”. The color comes from the presence of iron oxide and magnesium oxide. Photo credit: Elvin/Flickr Photo credit: sonotoki/Flickr Umi Jigoku Umi Jigoku or “sea hell” is so called because it features bright cobalt blue water that looks as cool as the sea.