Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Beppu Getaway

Over the summer I took a short trip to Beppu, a hot spring resort town in Kyushu, with my friend Nicola. I can't believe it's taken me so long to write about it, but it was such a refreshing break from Tokyo. The scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious, and I never say no to a good onsen.

Before we left I had trouble finding very much information about the area in English. My old paper Japan guidebook doesn't even mention the town! I'm going to go a little heavy on details and photos, so brace yourselves. 

The biggest draw in Beppu is definitely the hot springs, and for the most part that means onsen, but there are also jigoku or "hells" - hot springs so hot they are meant to be viewed rather than bathed in. There are 7 jigoku, and you can easily take a bus to all of them, but we had the luxury of renting a car and going at our own pace because Nicola has a Japanese drivers license! Each jigoku charges 400 yen admission, or you can buy a 2000 yen pass that grants admission to all. The entire tour can be done in just a few hours, so I'd recommend doing all of them. If you're pressed for time though, Umi Jigoku and Onishibozu were the two most beautiful in my opinion. Additionally, Oniyama Jigoku breeds crocodiles - apparently they like the hot water - but we found it kind of cramped and depressing. Definitely skippable.

Of course, what I was really excited about were the onsen. But be forewarned, the waters in Beppu are hot! The onsen where we stayed was so hot that neither Nicola or I could actually get in the water. Several Japanese guests looked at us like we were insane as we yelped and leapt out of the water. But they did the same thing when they tried to get in, and then agreed with us that it was shockingly hot. After that experience I decided to go to Hyotan onsen, which is a big onsen complex geared towards tourists. I was excited that it included the chance for a hot sand bath, and because I thought it was most likely to have at least some water that was a tolerable temperature. Good news - I soaked in all the baths, and none of them were too hot for me.

While we were in Beppu we decided to drive out to Yufuin, another hot springs town nearby. I think it has a reputation of being a little fancier and more sophisticated than Beppu. In any case, it was beautiful. It has a main shopping street filled with food and shops like many tourist towns, and if you follow that road far enough it ends at a pretty lake. Yufuin is also known for dairy production, so there are all sorts of ice creams, cheese cakes, and other delicious treats available.

I feel silly admitting this since I've lived in Japan for so long, but this trip was the first time I've ever stayed in a ryokan. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn with tatami (woven straw) floors, futon mattresses on the floor, and communal baths. Ryokans can be fabulously luxurious, but ours was definitely no frills. It's also common to eat breakfast and dinner at a ryokan, but we did not. I was surprised by how comfortable the futon was, but this was definitely a place to sleep, not to linger.

Nicola and I were both surprised by the size of Beppu and the main shopping streets. We'd worried there wouldn't be many restaurants, particularly open on Sunday night, but there were plenty of options within a short stroll of our ryokan. Our top recommendations are Genova, an awesome takeout ice cream shop, Torisutei Honten, a yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant, and Kihei Cafe, an adorable coffee shop with a delicious breakfast. We also had delicious burgers in Yufuin at Yufuin Burger, and you can't go wrong with any of the ice cream in town.

Our little ryokan room

Steam vents and structures are visible throughout Beppu
The grounds of Umi Jigoku

Umi Jigoku

Girls' Trip


Oniishibozu Jigoku


Shiraike Jigoku

Chinoike Jigoku


Tatsumaki Jigoku

Delicious burgers

Yufuin

You can see steam billowing up in the mountains

Cheesecake ice cream

The drive to Yufuin is gorgous

Genova Ice cream
Hours: 3:00-Midnight Mon-Sat, 3:00-10:00 Sun
Phone: 0977-22-6051
Address: 1-10-5 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map

Yufuin Burger
Hours: 11:00-5:30, closed Wednesday
Phone: 0977-85-5220
Address: 3053-4 Yufuincho Kawakami, Yufu, Oita
Map

Torisutei Honten
Phone: 0977-22-3787
Address: 1-15-11 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map

Kihei Cafe
Hours: 8:00-6:00,
Phone: 0977-23-1134
Address: 6-30 Fujimicho, Beppu, Oita
Map

Hyotan Onsen
Admission: 750 yen, sand bath additional 330 yen + towel rental
Hours: 9:00 am - 1:00 am
Phone: 0977-66-0527
Address: 159-2 Kannawa, Beppu, Oita
Map

Nogamihonkan Ryokan
Phone: 0977-22-1334
Address: 1-12-1 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map

Monday, October 16, 2017

Yokohama Cup Noodle Museum

Last fall I visited the Cup Noodle Museum in Yokohama. That's right, Yokohama not only has a ramen museum, they also have a museum dedicated to instant ramen!

The first thing we did upon arrival was watch a brief movie about the man who created instant ramen. The movie is in Japanese, but you can get a headset with English, Korean or Chinese audio. I thought the movie was cute and had a sweet message about never giving up, which was a theme throughout the museum. It evidently took Mr. Momofuku many tries before he succeeded in creating instant ramen.

Afterwards there is a model of the shed Mr. Momofuku worked in for so many years, a room full of the many different iterations of Cup Noodles and other Nissin brand instant ramen, and some entertaining ramen themed art work.

But the highlight of the visit is the opportunity to create your own cup of noodles for 300 yen. First you are issued a cup and seated at a table with markers to decorate it as you please. Once your cup is ready to go, you can select a broth flavor and your favorite toppings and watch as the cup goes through the assembly line. To be honest, I thought it sounded a little gimmicky, but it was really fun. Depending on how busy the museum is you may be able to make two or three cups if you like, but I've heard of it being limited to one on some days.

Of course, at the end there is a huge gift shop if you need even more than your individualized Cup Noodle to remember the day.

Admission: 500 yen
Hours: 10:00-6:00, no entry after 5:00, closed on Tuesday
Phone: 045-345-0918
Address: 2-3-4 Shinko, Naka-ku, Yokohama





So many years and varieties of Cup Noodles