I checked into my hotel right across from Beppu Station and unloaded my bag of all unnecessary items for a little night exploring around Beppu. I wandered out from the station heading a few blocks to the sea. Beppu Bay has hotels and ryokan lined up its shore looking out to the east. There are marinas hosting boats for fishing and fun.
I had two goals in mind wandering out this particular evening. The first was to go to an onsen and then find another meibutsu for dinner. The onsen I picked was Takegawara Onsen, a famous 100 year old resort that has a Michelin star for service. I wasn’t really sure what this meant until I visited. At Takegawara Onsen patrons have the choice of a hot springs bath or being buried in sand as a form of relaxation and therapy. There are reservations for the sand baths. I chose regular onsen which had no wait time and was only a few hundred yen.
The facilities themselves were classic, but definitely a bit rundown. As customary before entering the hot spring one must wash at showers, however they only had cold taps and provided no soap, I thought this was odd for an onsen resort which usually provides all the amenities. As I got dressed I noticed the windows were open and pretty sure people passing could see in from the outside. I bet those sand baths must’ve been pretty amazing as the onsen at my hotel were much nicer.
With onsen checked off my Beppu list, I wandered through the old covered shopping centers and made my way to a reimen shop. I didn’t misspell ramen, reimen is a cold version of the popular noodle dish with the “rei” meaning cold and “men” denoting noodles. I put my name on the wait list and waited at the park across the street. Everyone else on the list was Japanese, so when the obaa-chan came out to call my name she attempted, but got caught up on my katakana name “Ji.. Je..” I came out of the shadows and corrected “Jeremii”.
I was seated at the counter with a view of the kitchen and ordered the standard reimen.
I headed back through the covered shopping areas back towards the station to my hotel. Save for a few restaurants many of the shops seemed to be closed for the off season. I saw one shop that was lit up and still attracting a few straggling customers, a gelato shop. This place is a local hit and sometimes when traveling it just seems right to get a gelato to finish the evening.
One thought on “Beppu at Night”
Is that wasabi ice cream?
Comments are closed.