Beppu's 'Hells', Oita Prefecture, Japan
Photo: FIND/47 contributor via FIND/47 · CC BY 4.0
大分KYŪSHŪ / OKINAWA
KYŪSHŪ / OKINAWA · 大分県 · Japan

Oita

Japan's hot-spring capital — steaming Beppu and chic Yufuin.

Oita is widely known as Japan's onsen (hot spring) capital, producing more thermal spring water than any other prefecture, with Beppu's steaming "hells" (jigoku) and its volcanic Kunisaki Peninsula on the Seto Inland Sea.

Ōita (大分) produces more hot-spring water than any prefecture in Japan. Beppu (別府) grew into a great onsen resort, while the Usuki (臼杵) stone Buddhas were carved into cliffs around the 12th century.

Beppu 別府Yufuin 由布院Himeshima 姫島
Where it isOita, KYŪSHŪ / OKINAWA
Beppu Jigoku Meguri, Oita Prefecture, Japan
Beppu Jigoku Meguri
Usuki Stone Buddhas, Oita Prefecture, Japan
Usuki Stone Buddhas
Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita Prefecture, Japan
Kunisaki Peninsula
Rakanji Temple, Oita Prefecture, Japan
Rakanji Temple

Photos: Beppu Jigoku Meguri — そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Usuki Stone Buddhas — FIND/47 contributor via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Kunisaki Peninsula — そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rakanji Temple — TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋) via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

01

Getting there

Book buses & trains PR

Beppu/Ōita are ~2h from Fukuoka (Hakata) by limited express.

Get a Japan eSIM before you fly (PR)

02

What to see

All tours · Oita PR
Beppu Jigoku Meguri, Oita Prefecture, JapanTop pick

Beppu Jigoku Meguri (Hells of Beppu)

A tour of vivid, too-hot-to-bathe thermal springs including the cobalt-blue Umi Jigoku and the blood-red Chinoike Jigoku; Beppu has the largest hot-spring…

MapOfficialTickets
Usuki Stone Buddhas, Oita Prefecture, JapanTop pick

Usuki Stone Buddhas (Usuki Sekibutsu)

A group of stone Buddhas carved into rock cliffs over 1,000 years ago; 61 statues are designated National Treasures, set in a park famed for seasonal lotus.

MapOfficialTickets
Yufuin onsen town, Oita Prefecture, JapanTop pick

Yufuin onsen town & Kinrinko Lake

A refined, walkable hot-spring town below Mt. Yufu, known for craft cafes and the misty dawn scenery of Kinrinko Lake.

MapOfficialTickets
03

What to eat

Food tours & cooking classes PR
Toriten, Oita Prefecture, JapanMust-eat

Toriten (chicken tempura)

Oita soul food said to have originated in Beppu in the early 1920s: ginger/garlic-seasoned chicken in a light tempura batter, served with ponzu, mustard and a…

Must-eat

Dango-jiru (dumpling soup)

Hearty Oita farmhouse soup of hand-stretched wheat-flour dumplings simmered with vegetables and miso; a rural staple eaten as a warming, filling meal.

Seki-saba, Oita Prefecture, JapanMust-eat

Seki-saba / Seki-aji

Premium mackerel and horse mackerel raised in the fierce tides of the Bungo Channel; firm-fleshed and prized, often eaten as sashimi.

04

Oita at a glance

Food Culture Nature City Access how we rank all 47 →
05

Say it in Oita

Practise with a tutor PR
Ask a local
Kirei desu ne.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Test yourself
Local word
jigoku
the 'hells' — Beppu's vividly coloured hot springs (for viewing)
Test yourself
One more
onsen ni tsukaru
to soak in a hot spring
Practise more Japanese →
Beppu Jigoku Meguri, Oita Prefecture, Japan

Sleep in Oita

Compare ryokan, business hotels and local inns.

Find places to stay PR
07

Next door

KumamotoA mighty castle and one of the world's largest volcanic calderas at Aso.FukuokaKyūshū's gateway city, famous for tonkotsu ramen and street-food stalls.Play the 47-prefecture mapUnlock Oita in the RPG-style explorer.

Links marked PR are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Photos: Beppu's 'Hells' — FIND/47 contributor via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Beppu Jigoku Meguri — そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Usuki Stone Buddhas — FIND/47 contributor via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Kunisaki Peninsula — そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rakanji Temple — TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋) via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Beppu Jigoku Meguri — そらみみ (Soramimi) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Usuki Stone Buddhas — FIND/47 contributor via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Yufuin onsen town — 佐藤智史 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Toriten — nakashi via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Seki-saba — t-mizo via Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Map: Geolonia (MIT).