Beppu

Beppu (別府市) is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of November 30, 2023, the city had a population of 113,045 in 62702 households, and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 125.34 km2. Beppu is famous for its hot springs.

Geography
Beppu is situated at the west end of Beppu Bay, around the east central prefecture. Adjacent municipalities include Ōita (the prefectural capital), Usa, Yufu, and Hiji.

The west area of the city includes a number of scenic locations such as Yufugawa Canyon, which has been selected as one of One Hundred View of Oita, and/or some designated areas of Aso Kujū National Park, with a large amount of forests.

The east area of the city consists of an alluvial fan as well as alluvial plain, made with rivers flowing into Beppu Bay, namely Asami River, Haruki River and Sakai River. The main urban area of Beppu has been formed within this relatively narrow land which spans approximately 5 km from east to west and 10 km from north to south.

The north, west, and east of the city are the mountains or highlands with elevations of several hundreds meters above sea level. Most of those mountains are Quaternary volcanos. Particularly, such mountain as Mount Tsurumi is relatively new, and fumarolic activities are observed. Besides Mount Tsurumi, Mount Yufu, Mount Ohira and so forth shape a range of mountains.

There are a large number of seismic faults on the north and south of the alluvial fan, surrounding the urban area (giving rise to a large number of thermal vents). Given the short distance from the sea shore on the east coast to the west part of the city with altitude of several hundreds meters or higher, the city has many slopes mainly on the east-west direction.

Climate
Beppu has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Beppu is 15.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1663 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.3 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Beppu is as shown below

History
The area of Beppu was part of ancient Bungo Province. Beppu Port was opened on May 30, 1871, with connections to Osaka and other ports on the Seto Inland Sea. It was the main logistics hub for the Imperial Japanese Army during the Satsuma Rebellion. Hot spring development as a tourist destination began in earnest from 1879. The village of Beppu was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system and was raised to town status on April 11, 1893. It was raised to city status on April 1, 1924.

Government
Beppu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 25 members. Beppu contributes five members to the Ōita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Ōita 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
The economy of Beppu is strongly influenced by tourism to its many hot spring resorts.

Colleges and universities

 * Beppu University, a private university first chartered in 1954, also has a campus in Oita City.
 * Beppu Mizobe Gakuen College, established in 1986, is a private junior college located in the north of Beppu.
 * Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, a private university established in 2000.

Primary and secondary education
Beppu has 14 public elementary schools and seven public junior high schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Ōita Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private elementary school, junior high school and two private high schools. The prefecture operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Railways
JR Kyushu - Nippō Main Line
 * Kamegawa - Beppu Daigaku - Beppu - Higashi-Beppu

Highways

 * JP Expressway E10.svg Higashikyushu Expressway

Hot Springs
Beppu is famous for its onsen (Japanese style hot springs). It has eight major geothermal hot spots known as Beppu Hattō (別府八湯). The eight major hot spring areas are Beppu Onsen, Kankaiji, Kamegawa, Shibaseki, Kannawa, Myoban, Horita, and Hamawaki.

There are over 150 individual onsen facilities for bathing in Beppu. There is an onsen stamp rally where individuals receive a stamp for each onsen they visit. If an individual receives 88 stamps, they are considered to be an "onsen expert" (温泉名人, onsen meijin).

Hells of Beppu
The "Hells of Beppu" refer to a variety of hot springs in Beppu which are for viewing rather than bathing. There are seven hells that are part of the Jigoku Meguri (地獄めぐり) tour. It includes hells such as Oniyama Jigoku (鬼山地獄), which literally means "monster mountain hell" due to the large numbers of crocodiles bred and kept on its grounds and Umi Jigoku (海地獄) or "Sea Hell" which is known for its vibrant cobalt-blue water. Five of these are located in the Kannawa district, each within walking distance of each other, and two are located in the Shibaseki district which require about a five minute bus or car ride to access from the Kannawa district hells.

Other visitor attractions
Beppu is part of the course of the annual Beppu-Ōita Marathon, which traces a path between Beppu and its neighboring city of Ōita. The competition has been held every year since 1952 and is classed as an IAAF Silver Label road race.

Shidaka Lake is located 600 m above sea level. Otobaru Waterfall is a local natural attraction, located in the mountain area of Beppu city, 20 minutes' walk from Wonder Rakutenchi, a traditional amusement park. Takasakiyama Monkey Park is located 10 minutes from the center of Beppu by bus. The park is home to more than 1500 Japanese macaques. Kijima Kogen is a resort which includes an 18-hole golf course and hotel alongside an amusement park. It is located on a plateau en route to Yufuin.

Beppu has not only usual hot springs but some sand and foot baths as well. One famous spot is "Beppu Kaihin Sunayu, Ashiyu", ("Beppu marine beach sand bath and foot bath"). It is 15 minutes by bus from Beppu station, on Route 10.

Beppu Park (別府公園) is located in the center of the city, a 15-minute walk from Beppu Station. Beppu Fireworks Festival, held in late July, is one of the biggest fireworks displays in Oita. Five thousand fireworks are set off from boats floating on Beppu Bay. Beppu Contemporary Art Festival "Mixed Bathing World" is an art festival held every three years in Beppu.

The Beppu Ropeway connects Beppu with Mount Tsurumi.

Sports
Beppu is home to the Oita Heat Devils basketball team. The team's season was canceled in 2011 due to the earthquake that struck Japan on March 11.

International relations
The city of Beppu has sister city relationships with the following locations.


 * 🇯🇵 Atami, Shizuoka, Japan (since August 5, 1966)
 * Bath, Somerset, England, United Kingdom (since October 31, 1994)
 * 🇺🇸 Beaumont, Texas, United States (since May 20, 1985)
 * 🇰🇷 Jeju, South Korea (since January 17, 2003)
 * 🇰🇷 Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, South Korea (since October 1, 1984)
 * 🇳🇿 Rotorua, Bay of Plenty Region, New Zealand (since July 10, 1987)
 * Yantai, Shandong, China (since July 26, 1985)

Buildings

 * Beppu Tower