Page 240 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

238  JAP AN REGION B Y REGION

Gardens surrounding Umi Jigoku, or Ocean Hell, in Beppu
1 Kokura inspiration and origin. 3 Beppu
Kokura The most famous site, Usa Beppu
Jingu, a shrine to the ancient
Fukuoka prefecture. * 395,000. £ Japanese deities, is also Oita prefecture. * 122,000. k Oita.
n Kitakyushu Tourist Information identified with the influential £ g from Osaka, Kobe, and
(093) 541-4151. _ Mekari Shinji figure of Hachiman. Hiroshima. n Beppu stn (0977)
(Shinto ceremony, early Feb); Kokura On the peninsula, to the 24-2838; also Foreign Tourist
Gion Daiko (3rd weekend in Jul). Information Service at stn (0977)
∑ kcta.or.jp/english east of Usa, are stone tombs, 21-6220. ∑ city.beppu.oita.jp
Heian-period statues, and, at
The gateway to northern Kyushu, Kumano Magaibutsu, the If you can accept its brazen
Kokura is a town in Kita Kyushu. Its largest carved rock-face commercialism, Beppu, a glitzy,
image as a modern city is embod- reliefs in Japan. The ancient neon-strung hot-spring resort,
ied in the designs of architect Arata ambience of the peninsula situated in a wide bay and visited
Isozaki, espe cially Chuo Toshokan can be sensed near the by over 12 million tourists a year,
Kitakyushu (Central Library, 1974). summit of Mount Futago, constitutes an amazing thermal
The city and its environs – includ- where stone guardians mark and enter tainment roller
ing Dan no Ura battlefield, where the approach to Futago-ji. coaster. The city’s porous skin is
the Taira clan were defeated, Twin avatars of the moun tain punctured by an infinite number
and the straits of Shimonoseki – are enshrined at the temple of vents from which steam
can be seen in one sweep from hall here, built into the side continuous ly rises, making it
Kokura Castle. Next to the castle, of a cliff. The oldest wooden feel at times like a huge,
the beautifully laid out Kokura structure on Kyushu, the main malfunctioning boiler room.
Castle Japanese Garden hall of the Fuki-ji, dating from Scalding water not only sur-
surrounds a samurai house. the Heian period, has faint, faces at the 3,750 hot springs
eerily beautiful frescoes of and 168 public baths but is also
P Chuo Toshokan Kitakyushu the Buddhist paradise. piped into private homes to
Sth Kokura Castle. Open Tue–Sun. heat rooms and fuel ovens.
Y Kokura Castle Japanese Garden Beppu offers some interest ing
Tel (093) 582-2747. Open daily. & variations on the theme of a hot
bath. Visitors can soak in a series
of tubs of graded temperatures,
2 Usa plunge into thermal whirlpools,
Usa be buried in hot black sand, or sit
up to the neck in steaming mud.
Oita prefecture. * 60,000. £ @ The most famous sights are the
Sightseeing bus tour recommended. Boiling Hells (Jigoku) – pools of
_ Usa Furusato Matsuri (mid-Nov).
mineral-colored water and bub-
The center of Tendai-sect bling mud. A circuit of the Eight
sanctuaries and shrines Hells, called jigoku-meguri, is
dedicated to Hachiman, recom mended; six of them are
the god of war, the area within walking distance of each
including Usa and the Kunisaki other in the Kannawa district in
Peninsula is believed to have the north of Beppu. Each has a
been the nucleus of ancient Doorway at the vermilion hall of different function, color, and
Buddhist sites of Korean Usa Jingu mineral property. For example,
For hotels and restaurants see p306 and pp334–6

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
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Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm