Takegawara Onsen — Attraction in Beppu

For English speakers who want to know what you actually have to do: here it is.

Go to the counter and ask about the sand bath.

Take your shoes off at the area across from the counter and walk onto the main floor in your socks.

Go over to the machine on the other side of the counter (the nice clerk should be able to help direct you there and help you in English.

Purchase your bathing option (normal bath, sand bath, towel, soap, etc) Keep in mind they do not provide soap or towels inside the bathing area.

(For the sand bath) give your ticket to the clerk, they will write a time on it in red which is the time that they want you to be present for the bath (this could be up to an hour later depending on the time you go).

KEEP THIS TICKET and return when it is your time and listen for your number.

Walk into the sand bath area (depending on gender) with your towel and your ticket (as well as your smartphone if you want them to take your picture in there).

There will be a cubby area to put your clothes and undress.

Undress yourself and choose one of the yukata on the rack to wear and then make sure to grab one of the belt things and tie it around yourself, securing the yukata. Also take your phone with you.

Walk down into the sand area and wait your turn (hand over your phone to the worker in the small basket)

Lay down in the sand and let them bury you, take your picture and un-bury you. Then walk back into the changing area.

Take a shower in the shower area with the yukata on, and get all the sand off of it and your body. Then place the yukata in the collection bin with the other yukata in it.

Really make sure you got all the sand off and wash yourself a bit again. Then go over to the small pool and use the small buckets to pour water over yourself and then take a very quick bath once you have all the sand completely off.

Get out and get redressed and if you wish to use the normal bath which is on the opposite end of the main room, then the fee is waived, be warned though its super hot and relatively small as it is just one pool.

Get some coffee milk and feel refreshed! :)

The staff are very nice and will give you instructions in English or other languages but I still found myself confused a little bit, so I hope this breakdown helps someone.

Needless to say I recommend the experience...

PSA: 1. Sand bath is nice.

Bring a small towel so you don’t have to rent one.

The picture of the pool is disgusting but it actually is ok in real life. Don’t be spooked by the pics you see online.

I tried the sand bath and it costed 1500yen (normal onsen bath is included). To experience the sand bath, one will have to get to the establishment and purchase the sand bath ticket from the vending machine and hand it to the counter. The counter will let you know when is the next available slot for it (so ask about the next available slot first before you purchase the ticket) and give you a piece of paper with a number on it.

I got there at 12:30pm and the next available slot was 2pm. I was told to come back 15mins before for briefing and preparation.

At 1:45pm, the counter called out numbers to confirm the numbers of participants.

I was invited to enter the sand bath room at 2pm sharp. I had to change into a Yukata and enter the actual sand bath room.

The actual sand bath room is mix genders. So if you are visiting with your friends/ family, you’ll get to experience it together, side by side.

The staff will appoint you a place to lie down on and bury you ✨Mexican cartel style ✨ 10/10...

Kinda surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reviews of this place. The staff were helpful and polite, and the foyer is nice, but otherwise it's tiny and seems to have failed to change with the times.

Something that threw me off right away was the lack of a shower. Every onsen I've been to around Japan has at minimum had a shower. It makes it really confusing figuring out how to bathe. It seems less hygenic too as there's no soap to wash with and some Japanese people only splashed themselves with onsen water then got into the onse. It's not the cleanest onsen in the world either, and only consists of one 41° indoor onsen. It was too hot to stay in for a long time, and people only seemed to stay in for a couple minutes before standing outside or leaving. Luckily it was quite quiet at 9:30pm which was nice.

It seems that Beppu onsens have an attitude of "we are famous for being an onsen town so we don't have to adapt". They have all these specific rules just for Beppu onsens (which doesn't apply elsewhere in Japan) and act like their lack of innovation (eg. installing showers) are part of the charm when really it's just...