Beppu Kamado Jigoku (かまど地獄) Half Day — From the 1st to 6th Chome, Ending with Hot Spring Eggs and Ramune

I arrived at the Kannawa (鉄輪) district of Beppu in Oita Prefecture on an afternoon when the rain came and went. As soon as I got off the bus, the whole neighborhood was billowing w…

Beppu · Gamasot Hell

I arrived at the Kannawa (鉄輪) district of Beppu in Oita Prefecture on an afternoon when the rain came and went. As soon as I got off the bus, the whole neighborhood was billowing with steam. Water vapor rose from between roofs, between gutters, and even from the cracks of manhole covers. Among all these, the place where the most people gathered was Kamado Jigoku. True to its name, a large cauldron is its symbol, and in front of the ticket office there's actually a massive iron cauldron set up with a sacred rope around it. Pine trees grow above it, so at first I thought it was the entrance to some shrine.

A large iron cauldron bound with a sacred rope and a sign reading 'かまど地獄入口', with people lined up at the ticket office building in the background — The cauldron sculpture at the entrance. The sign on the ticket window to the right reads '受付 8:00~17:00'.

A price list is posted on the ticket office window, with separate rates for groups, individuals, and combo passes for the Hell Tour Circuit. I bought a combo ticket to visit multiple hells, but since the rates change by season, I recommend checking on-site. After buying the ticket and entering, a red oni demon is sitting on top of the cauldron. The photo line was so long that I gave up on getting a shot without people.

A red oni demon figure standing on a cauldron and a blue dragon figure, with steam billowing throughout the grounds of Kamado Jigoku — Below the red demon is a sign for '一丁目'. A small sign next to it read 100 yen.

From 1st to 6th Chome, Each Pond Has a Different Color

What sets this hell apart from others is that you don't just view one large pond and leave. Within this small area, hot spring ponds of different characteristics are lined up in sequence with numbers. Signs labeled 一丁目, 二丁目, and so on, so you just follow in order. In reality, it takes about 20-30 minutes to go around, but every time the color changed, my feet stopped in their tracks, and I ended up spending nearly an hour there.

A sky-blue hot spring pond surrounded by a red railing with a sign reading '四丁目かまど地獄 80℃', with steam rising — 4th Chome, 80℃. The sky-blue color looks like diluted watercolor paint, but putting your hand in would be a disaster.

This 4th Chome sky-blue pond is the most popular. What's interesting is that depending on the wind direction, completely different photos come out. While I was standing there, suddenly steam gushed out and the pond disappeared entirely. A staff member did a demonstration where he blew cigarette smoke and the steam billowed up noticeably—it happened right after that. A few seconds later, the water color was visible again.

White steam exploding and billowing above the same sky-blue pond, engulfing the mountain and pavilion in the background — A few seconds difference from the same spot. When the steam rises, you can't even see the person in front of you.

Walking a bit further, a muddy orange-colored pond appears. A pipe sticks out, and the surface trembles slightly. The smell becomes noticeably stronger here. It's less of a sulfur smell and more like heated, wet soil.

An orange mud hot spring pond with a rusted pipe, white steam flowing from the right — The molten-metal orange pond. A single pipe is stuck right through it.

A brick-red hot spring pond with a white steam column rising vertically, and visitors visible beyond the wooden fence — A pond that's brick-red in color. The steam column rises vertically, taking up half the photo.

The mud area has a different character altogether. Instead of water, thick, porridge-like mud swells in a circle and then subsides. The edges have hardened and risen like the rim of a dish, and the pattern apparently changes slightly each year. The gurgling sound was lower and more muffled than expected.

Two dish-shaped mud hot springs with whitish-gray hardened rims, bubbling side by side — A mud pond with hardened edges forming a rim. The center slowly swirls.

A staff member in a green uniform standing next to a mud hot spring, with a red railing and '順路' arrow signs visible in the background — Following the '順路' arrows keeps you from getting turned around. Staff members regularly provide explanations.

The large pond in the final section had a greenish hue with a milky tint. This is the place where the most people gather, so you'll need to wait a bit to get a spot at the railing. When a tour group leaves, it suddenly becomes quiet, so you can seize that opportunity.

Visitors lined up along a red railing of a milky-green hot spring pond, with steam billowing upward — The moment when tour groups arrived all at once. That's when I gave up on getting a front-row railing spot.

A milky-green hot spring pond and a yellow temperature gauge sign with an oni demon character drawn on it, thick steam blanketing the water — A temperature gauge sign with an oni demon character drawn on it. It's the mascot of Kamado Jigoku.

Location and How to Get There

Kamado Jigoku is just a few minutes' walk from the Kannawa bus stop. Take a direct bus heading to Kannawa from the bus terminal at the west exit of JR Beppu Station. Other hells like Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) and Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pond Hell) are within walking distance. I walked here from the direction of Umi Jigoku, and the path is fairly flat with just a slight uphill section. There's a parking lot in front of the site, though it gets temporarily blocked when tour buses arrive.

Hot Spring Eggs and Ramune—You'll Miss Out if You Skip These

Many people who come here just view the ponds and leave, but the real show is the bench in front of the shop. They sell eggs steamed in hot spring vapor, and next to them is a refrigerator with ice-cold ramune bottles with marbles inside. When you peel the egg shell, the egg white has a slight brownish tint, there's almost no sulfur smell, and the salty flavor soaks right in. The yolk isn't dry—it's moist. One bite of the hot egg, one sip of the ice-cold ramune. After being surrounded by steam and sweating, this combination was genuinely the best part of the day.

A ramune bottle with a marble on a wooden table next to a peeled hot spring egg being held in a hand, with a shop and vending machine visible in the background — Hot spring eggs and marble ramune. Really, sitting on the shop bench eating these is why we came here.

The ramune bottle cap can be opened by staff, but usually you have to press it yourself. The marble gets caught in the bottle neck, so it's easy to choke on your first sip. I spilled some on my clothes on the first sip. There's a separate return box for bottles, so don't take one with you.

Next to the shop is a 'drinking hot spring'. There are two faucets attached to a bamboo fence with a ladle placed nearby, and in large Korean letters it says 'Drink a cup and grow ten years younger!' The sign indicates 80℃, so I let the ladle-ful cool a bit before drinking. The taste is like lukewarm mineral water with a slight metallic tang. It's not delicious drinking water, but it's definitely worth trying once for the experience.

A '飲む温泉' sign and a Korean-language sign reading '한잔 마시고 10년 젊어지세요!' below it, with hot spring water flowing from a faucet and a ladle placed underneath, with an 80℃ marking — The drinking hot spring. It's rare to see such large Korean language signs posted here.

Don't miss the 'Throat and Skin Bath (のど·肌の湯)' right next to it. Four metal pipes are stuck in a bamboo wall, and 100℃ steam shoots out from them. The sign tells you in Korean to inhale slowly through your nose. Don't hold your face too close—it's too hot—you should stand about a hand's length away. If you're wearing glasses, you won't be able to see anything for that moment.

A 'のど・肌の湯' sign on a wooden wall and metal pipes with 100℃ steam shooting out, with Korean-language signage — Throat and Skin Bath. The sign indicates the steam from the pipes is 100℃.

Places Visited on the Same Day

There's usually time left over if you just see Kamado Jigoku and head back. I rode the bus up a bit and stopped by Myouban Onsen. Low huts with thatched roofs line a hillside, and here they create hot spring crystals called 'yunohana'. An information marker notes it as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset. It was rainy, so the ground was muddy, and when you enter the huts, the ground beneath your feet is covered with white hardened crystals.

Low yunohana-making huts with thatched roofs lined up on a hillside at Myouban Onsen, with an '重要無形民俗文化財' information marker standing — This photo is not of Kamado Jigoku, but rather of the yunohana-making huts at Myouban Onsen.

The 'Yukemuri Cider (湯けむりサイダー)' sold at the Myouban shop has those thatched huts drawn on the label. The bottle is small, so two gulps and it's gone, but the carbonation is strong and the aftertaste is clean. It tastes different from the ramune I had at Kamado Jigoku, so you won't get tired of drinking both.

A glass bottle of cider with a red label reading 'MYOUBAN ONSEN 湯けむりサイダー' being held in a hand, with a wooden shop building in the background — Yukemuri Cider from Myouban Onsen. The label illustration is of the thatched huts from the previous photo.

The next day I headed to Yufuin. It rained from morning, and clouds descended to the middle of the mountain. The road at the entrance to Yunotsubo Street was wet and shiny. Paid parking signs stood in various spots—on busy holiday weekends, I'd spend a lot of time here confused. The air was completely different from Beppu's steam-filled landscape.

A wet road and a paid parking sign for '湯の坪横丁', with low-hanging clouds over mountains in the background at the entrance to Yunotsubo Street in Yufuin — This photo is not of Beppu, but rather the entrance to Yunotsubo Street in Yufuin on a rainy day.

Good Things to Know Before You Go

The steam constantly fogs up camera lenses. Bringing a dry cloth to wipe your glasses and camera definitely makes things less frustrating.
Many sections of the ground are wet. Shoes with good traction are better than slippers.
The area in front of 4th Chome gets packed with people during peak tour bus times. Right after opening in the morning was the least crowded.
Hot spring eggs and ramune are eaten right on the shop bench, so there's competition for seats. It's convenient to scout out a spot before finishing your pond viewing.
Since admission prices and operating hours can change, it's safer to check directly with the ticket office notice board.

As I was heading out, I looked back at the entrance cauldron one more time. In the morning it just looked like a sculpture, but after seeing the mud boiling and steam shooting out at 100℃ inside, I finally understood why that cauldron is the symbol. Eggshell fragments still clung to my fingertips.