A spell in Japan's Hells

The eight ‘hells’ of Beppu on Japan’s Kyushu island can be visited individually for US$3.83 (RM12.76) per ‘hell’.

AT its best, travel involves stepping out of one’s comfort zone, and one way to do this in Japan is to step into a comfort zone – a hot spring facility, or as they’re known locally, onsen. My previous visits to Japan were lacking in cultural immersion, so this time I decided to concentrate my short stay in the city of Beppu, arguably the world’s first hot spring tourist town.