Kyushu 2023 - Arriving in Beppu

Beppu! The onsen town! I've actually been to Beppu before, but a smaller version of it in Taipei. It was called Beitou. Above a photo for my manhole cover collection!

 

To get to Beppu, our train actually stopped at Oita station, and we had to transfer to a local line to reach our destination. Above is Aso-Boy. I took this photo because there is a Aso-Boy train from Beppu to Kumamoto which I wanted to take. Sadly, it doesn't run on the day I wanted to take it. Else it would have been cute to sit on the doggie themed train! After all, that part of the journey was going to be covered  by our JR Pass. Instead, we ended up on a boring red train....

Welcome to Beppu Station! A scary statue awaits your outside the station! That is Kumahashi Aburaya, and you can read more about him here.

 

There was also a small hand onsen next to the station in case you want to warm your cold hands. It is not uncomment to have hands or leg onsen next to station. It's a lovely way to spend your time waiting for train in a quiet town. But due to Covid, these facilities are now sometimes cordon off, or have less people using it due to hygiene reason.

We walked into Beppu town via the main street. There were sento all over the place. Sento are also onsen, minus all the luxury of a view or natural setting. It's a bath house cause some Japanese accommodation doesn't come with bathrooms!

We arrived late morning, and Beppu on the whole was a very quiet town. It was larger than Yufuin, but a lot quieter. Above is the shopping street area. Maybe it was just too early? But no, even at night, some shops might have opened up, but the crowd and the buzz just wasn't there. 

Here's my husband on the small road looking for our hotel. As you can see, no cars, and no people. It felt like a really old abandon town. Forgotten in time, perhaps popular during the showa period.