Aikido Trip to Japan Fall 2003.
Beppu Hell - Kyushu
Situated in near the Spa resort town of Beppu, the hells - or jigoku - are a collection of hotsprings with distinct characteristics. The real hell of our tour though was our tour guide who talked and sang for the bus trip to the attraction!
First we went to the Kannawa group.
The pond at the start of the 1st Jigoku
1 - Umi-jigoku - large expanse of gently steaming blue water.
2 - Oniishibozu- jiguku - consists of large and small gray bubbles that boil up and look like the shaven heads of monks.
(Rob, Robb and Steve)
3 - Yama-jigoku - steaming vents, the area also serves as a zoo for a variety of animals.
4 - Kamado-jigoku - the mascot being a bright red Demon, this site contains 6 unique pools of boiling waters.
5 - Oniyama-jigoku - called a breeding ground for the crocodiles that are housed here.
7 - Kinryu - jigoku - the dragon with steam coming out of its mouth is the attraction at this site along with some buddhist deities and tropical plants.
8- Chinoike - jigoku - So hot even the steam is red! They even had a nice foot bath at this site!
(Pat and Steve)
9 - Tatsumaki - jigoku - Bearing the same claim to fame as Old Faithfull, this geyser springs forth once every 20-25 minutes.
After our day at Beppu, we returned to Hiroshima on the Bullit train for some much needed practice at the Dojo of Kotani Sensei! We had an hour of great practice to loosen up our seat stiffened bums.
After Hiroshima we were off to Kanazawa for SUMO!