Umi Jigoku — the Sea Hell

photo by そらみみ (Soramimi) · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by そらみみ (Soramimi) · CC BY-SA 4.0

A spring at 98°C all year round: its cobalt colour earns it the name ‘Sea Hell’.

The most famous of Beppu's geothermal ‘hells’: a pond of water at 98°C with an intense cobalt-blue colour, due to dissolved minerals. It is one of the four jigoku of Beppu (with Chinoike, Tatsumaki and Shiraike) designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty. It is part of the circuit of the 8 jigoku (Beppu Jigoku Meguri), active for over a thousand years according to local historical sources.

Umi Jigoku (‘sea hell’), in Beppu's Kannawa hot-spring district, is a geothermal pond with a cobalt-blue surface (a colouring due to the mineral compounds in the water), kept at a constant temperature of about 98°C. It is the most photographed of the 8 ji⁠goku on the city circuit, sites where steam has risen from underground for over a thousand years according to local tradition, and one of the four (with Chinoike, Tatsumaki and Shiraike Jigoku) to bear the official designation of national Place of Scenic Beauty for their variety of colours and formations. The complex includes a traditional entrance, lotus ponds, a footbath and a small gallery on the hot-spring history of Beppu.

ℹ️ Hours: 8:00–17:00, open all year round. Ticket: adults (high school and above) 450¥, children (elementary/junior high) 200¥. Combined tickets available for several jigoku. Address of the Beppu Jigoku association: Tetsuwa 559-1.

🚉 鉄輪 · 10 min walk

Sources: beppu-jigoku.com · umijigoku.co.jp

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