The Seven Gods of Good Fortune (Beppu Ropeway）

'Shichi Fuku Jin' are the seven gods of good fortune which bring people good luck. It came out from syncretization of Shinto with Buddhism.'Shichi' means 'seven', 'Fuku' means 'good luck' and 'Jin' means 'god' in Japanese.

One of them, 'Daikokuten', who put his foot on bags of rice with a lucky hammer and a big sack in his hands is the god of success in business and matchmaking.

Another one, 'Fukurokujyu', who has an abnormally high forehead is the god of happiness, wealth and longevity.

There are many places that have Shichi Fuku Jin statues in Japan, even on Mt. Tsurumi located in the Aso-Kujyu National Park.
You can walk along the trail toward the top of Mt. Tsurumi from the mountaintop station to visit them while enjoying the seasonal landscape.

It takes 20 minutes by local bus from Beppu station to the foot of Mt. Tsurumi and 10 minutes by ropeway to get the mountaintop station.

(AW)

Series - "Onsen Town Beppu Is Ready To Welcome You!"

Part 2 : Lodging

Lodging is very important for the tourists to enjoy both sightseeing and Onsen in Beppu. Your first choice will be “minshuku” (also called as toujiyado) , guest house or “ryokan”, Japanese style inn.

You can stay at ryokan overnight with two meals for about 15,000 yen. Ryokan usually serves “kaiseki ryori”, a formal Japanese dinner. It will enchant you with a series of Japanese dishes served in a tiny, pretty china plates. While drinking Japanese sake, to have “kaiseki ryori” after Onsen bathing will give you a wonderful memory of Japan. 

Meanwhile, overnight at “minshuku” costs some 10,000 yen including two meals (dinner and breakfast). At “minshuku” you will enjoy home-cooked meals. If you are lucky, the landlady will cook for you by herself. Sometimes, you can stay at “minshuku” with room charge only, if you prefer. It costs about 5,000 yen and instead of a bed, you sleep on “futon” (Japanese sleeping mattress) spread on “tatami” mat. Many ryokan and minshuku are available in Kannawa area, one of Beppu’s eight major hot spring areas. As Kannawa is the center of Jigoku tour, the major sightseeing spots in Beppu, to stay there is very convenient for you to see Jigoku on the day and after.

Around the JR Beppu station, there are many modern hotels and ryokans. Meanwhile, hotels and ryokans standing at Beppu bay side provide you gorgeous view from open-air bath in the hotel. The range of the room charges of those hotels and ryokans is from 6,000 yen to 8,000 yen. They all have western style rooms and facilities.

For those who prefer economy class lodging, Beppu provides you of business hotels (about 4,000 yen) or dormitory type inns (from 1,500 yen) within 15 minute walk from JR Beppu station. Some economy class hotels or inns have in-house Onsen.(KI/KK)

Fantastic world of lights

This illumination is presented by the Suginoi Hotel and stretches for 600m on both sides of the street in its site. The lights of about 730,000 LED bulbs are powered by hotel's in-house geothermal generators.
You can enjoy it from 17:00 to 23:00 every day. The last day is unknown yet.

(AW)

Series-"Onsen Town Beppu is Ready to Welcome You."

When you plan to trip to Japan, we recommend you to include Beppu in your itinerary. Because Beppu has a lot of things to satisfy the full sense of tourists. We are presenting a series of topics on the tourism Beppu.

Part 1 : Onsen = Hot spring
Japanese people like to take bath everyday in the bath tub with full of water to ease their fatigue of the day. Beppu is the mecca of Onsen for such Japanese bath lovers. People in Beppu can relax in a local Onsens with rich minerals in a walking distance almost every day.

Fee for each municipal Onsen in Beppu is only 100 yen.

In today’s thin human relation society, it is a pleasure for local people to greet and chat with others in Onsen bath.

Many tourists from other parts of Japan and overseas may enjoy the same way of bathing in the municipal Onsen mingling with local people. On the other hand, Beppu has a lot of upscale Onsens with various types of Onsen in one building for the tourists to enjoy them easily. Also, you can experience unique Onsens such as mud bath (“doroyu”), sand bath (“sunayu”, steam bath (“mushiyu”) and popular open-air bath (“rotenburo”). Fee range for them is from 200 yen to 2,000 yen. (K.I. & K.K.)

The foliage season

It is the season for colored leaves around Beppu. These photos were taken at the foot of Mt.Tsurumi.

At beginning of December we can enjoy seeing yellow and red leaves at lower altitudes such as Mt.Takasaki Natural Park. (AW)

Oita/Seoul(Korea) Flights resume in December

Korean Airlines released it’s Oita-Seoul (Incheon) line, only international scheduled flight in Oita airport, to resume its operation from December 30, 2011. It has been cancelled since last April due to East Japan earthquake. To maintain its long lasting operation, Oita prefecture begins direct subsidies to the traveler from Oita upon its resumption.

According to Korean airlines Oita branch, tour groups began to increase on major flights such as Fukuoka/Korea routes. The parties concerned in Oita expect more foreign tourists to visit Oita via Seoul using Korean airlines flights. .

Schedule of the flights are as follows;

Seoul/Oita : Fridays 13:30 and Sundays 15:40

Oita/Seoul : Fridays 16:00 and Sundays 18:10

(K/K)

Tanoura Beach

This is one of beach side parks in Oita prefecture.

At this time of the year, elementary school students are there on a field trip. Local workers take stroll at their lunch breaks. Little kids with their mothers like to have lunch on benches, enjoying autumn sea breeze and mild sunshine at the beach. It is the most pleasant season here to spend time outdoors.

This park is one of popular places for local people. It is usually crowded with swimmers in summer. Special events are held on some weekends all through the year. It takes 10 minutes by local bus to get there from Beppu station. (AW)