Chinoike

There are nine (or alternatively, seven) spectacular steaming hot springs in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, Japan called the Hells of Beppu.These pond hells, or jigoku, are for viewing rather than bathing, unlike the other non-hell hot springs in the area. Each is unique in color and composition, and look quite different from the average natural spring, with displays of various coloured waters, steaming ponds, jets of water, and bubbling mud pools. The region of Kannawa, where the Beppu Hells are, was described centuries ago as a cursed land of gas explosions, bubbling mud and steaming waters. These places were referred to as “jigoku” or "Hells" (based on the Buddhist belief system of multiple layers of hells, each with a different nature) and residents of long ago were afraid to approach them. According to legend, a Buddhist monk by the name of Ippen Shonin calmed these hells through prayer and allowed the people to enjoy the thermal waters of Beppu.

The Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pond Hell) is the oldest natural pond hell in Japan, and has been visited for religious purposes for around 1300 years, dating from as early as 700 CE. The Blood Pond has been a famous tourist spot for centuries, and is one of the largest tourist attractions in the region. With water reaching boiling temperatures of 90C (194f), the Blood Pond is obviously not usable as a spa, unlike many of the other hot spring ponds in Beppu, and was even used as a means of torture and execution sometime around 700 CE. Approximately 1800 kiloliters of hot water gushes out of the pond daily, spewing every 40 minutes, and the resulting steam rises steadily throughout the year. The combination of the steam and eerie colour of the water produces the semblance of being in hell. Looking at this place from some distance, it seems as if the pond is full of boiling blood. Accordingly, the blood red water appears to have led the Japanese people to believe it was a type of hell erupting forth from down below.

The pond is red because of the high iron oxide (hematite) content in the sediment deposited at the bottom of the pool. A naturally occurring chemical reaction takes place in a high temperature and pressure environment deep underground which causes iron oxide and magnesium oxide to mix. This mixing forms the red, hot mud which gets pushed to the surface and turns the whole pond red. Interestingly, the color changes slightly with the weather. On sunny days the pond appears an orange-red, but on cloudy days it takes on the semblance of a blood-red scarlet. Blood Pond Hell is also unique in that it is larger than the other jigoku in Beppu, covering an area of about 1300 square meters and being more than 30 meters deep.

The mud and hot water from Blood Pond have been and are still used to make various skin care products, such as Chinoikenanko, a natural ointment made from the mud of the Blood Pond Hell. It has been used since ancient times and was used to treat soldiers’ wounds during war. The pond water is also used to make a unique red pudding, aptly named Chinoike Custard Pudding.