A sandbath in Beppu, at Takegawara Onsen - Wed 11 Apr

My room at Beppu has it's own foyer, a spacious main sleeping/living room, bathroom wetroom, with little square deep tub, and a squat loo. There are lots of fun extras in the room - my own teapot, cup and loose leaf roasted rice green tea in a beautiful lacquerware container, along with a pot with no cord that somehow heats the water inside to tea temperature when you push the button and pour.
(Note, I later learned this amazing device is called a "thermos flask".)

I realised in the daylight I was right near the sea, so I walked down to have a look. It was a marina, a bit concrete-locked.

I looked at my guide book and noticed there was a recommended hot spring nearby, which I found without too much trouble. Takegawara Onsen. It was a beautiful old building. I opted for a sand bath, for ¥1000, and bought a little towel, both for practical immediate reasons and as a keepsake.



When my number was called, I changed into (only) the yukata robe provided, and went into the large, high-ceilinged sand bath room. I lay in the shallow trench prepared in the dark gray, gritty sand. With a long-handled instrument with a horizontal shovel attachment, a woman then drew the hot sand up first over my arms at my sides, onto my abdomen and chest, down to my legs and feet, lifted each shoulder to pack underneath and over, then lifted my head to create a high sand pillow.

I lay there for ten minutes, looking down over my chest at my feet, having become two mounds of breathing earth. It was heavy and the heat and pressure were comfortingly intense. Sweat dribbled down my temples. I focused on being in the moment, experiencing the physical sensations and taking in the visual image. I looked like unfinished gardening.

When it came time to get out of the sand bath, she explained to first wriggle my arms free, then clear the sand from my body, then lift my knees to free my legs. It was much harder physically to get out than I expected!

Someone else, long ago, has a sand bath, below.


After ditching the gritty yukata and having a rinse into a knee-deep sand washing bath and a shower, I hopped into the adjacent bath for a hot soak. I had to keep hopping out to pour cold water down myself, which was a shock and delight.


I believed I was on my way of the facitily out when the proprietor intervened to inquire whether I was going to use the other large hot spring bath. It was large as a small pool and neck deep when seated, and bloody hot - the sign said it was 42 degrees. I relieved the heat again with some rounds of cold water and some buckets of the same into the bath.

I was in there on and off for 20 minutes, and by myself until the last 5 when a young Scottish man came in and spoke to me in Japanese. I got to enjoy watching him discover how darn hot the water was, looking as cautious about it as I must have before him. Luckily, I read in the guide book that this is an especially hot onsen - if that had been just ordinary, I certainly wouldn't have been able to brave a hot one!