Across the planet few places can match the abundant geothermal activity of Beppu, Japan. In and around this city in northeastern Kyushu are more than 3800 hot springs, geysers and fumaroles (vents emitting gases and steam). These emissions, which together eject more than 2 million cubic feet (55,000 cubic meters) of water per day, are signs of relatively recent volcanic activity. The city of Beppu lies at the base of a slope of volcanic debris and there are several inactive volcanoes nearby. A hilly town, it has been a celebrated hot springs resort since early medieval times. The waters are sparkling, hot, mineral-rich and multicolored. Regional folklore and contemporary visitors report that the waters work wonders on both body and spirit. Because of the legendary therapeutic powers of its myriad springs, Beppu attracts over 12 million Japanese and foreign visitors each year. While certain parts of the city exhibit a gaudy tourist scene these days, the springs themselves are sublime.
I spent three weeks in Beppu visiting and soaking in two to four springs per day. There are an incredible variety of springs to choose from: huge, multi-pooled complexes operated by the resort hotels; small, family-run onsens (the Japanese word for hot spring) whose soaking pools are hundreds of years old and beautifully lined with wood and stone; great outdoor pools of bubbling blue and red mud; and great earthen cauldrons of steaming sand called Sunayu.
The Takegawara hot sand Sunayu is hundreds of years old and has been managed by the same family for its entire history. The enormous wooden building is built directly over a huge bed of constantly steaming, jet-black sand and is partitioned in half for men and women. Such partitioning is found at only a few springs, as most Japanese onsens are open to both sexes. After having a hot shower, I entered the sand area to be buried in the steaming sand. An old and tiny Japanese woman used a wooden shovel to slowly dig a trench perfectly sized to my body height. She dug with a precision borne not only of practice but of meditative focus. I lay down and a weighty heap of sand was shoveled over my entire body. Embraced by the hot and luscious earth, only my face above the ground, I felt transported to a primeval realm of devic forces and elemental spirits. Twenty languorous minutes passed until the attendant, seeing my face becoming cherry-red, dug me out and lead me to a nearby pool for a two-minute plunge in ice water (there are numerous chunks of ice the size of soccer balls in the pool). The weight of the sand upon your body, the steaming heat, the ice plunge and the atmosphere of the historic onsen makes for a wonderfully invigorating and mind altering experience. Someday I will return to Beppu and visit Takegawara each day as a meditation practice. There is a power to this place that takes me to the depths of beingness.
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