This post was written in 2009. Some information may be out of date.
Arriving in Beppu late at night, there was nowhere to go. Especially nowhere to eat. I searched on my iPhone for somewhere good, but found absolutely nothing. And the local favourites all close for Golden Week… I wandered the streets hoping to spot a place that looked tasty, but nothing looked like it had any real skill behind it. Sigh…
The street
Beppu is, you could say, a faded hot-spring town. It was doing great in the ’80s, but since then all sorts of travel packages have come along. A trip to Southeast Asia is way cheaper than coming to Beppu, and younger people keep drifting away from hot springs, so it’s in a bit of an awkward spot.
A tengu figure
Looks like something that would be used at a festival.
Beppu Tower
I’ve never seen such a dull-looking tower. An Asahi Beer sign, of all things… You can tell it was probably a hot spot back in the day, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to visit Beppu Onsen. It just lacks anything special. That said, with family, it might actually be better than Kurokawa or Yufuin.
A quiet Beppu Station
Compare it with Kumamoto and you’ll get an idea of how empty the area in front of the station is. In the end I couldn’t find a good place, so I bought onigiri and Beppu’s specialty toriten – chicken tempura – at a bento shop in front of the station and went back to the hotel. On the way I stopped at a convenience store and picked up some Yebisu beer too. The classic middle-aged-guy set ^_^ Tempura and beer late at night without a care for the belly… Anyway, the toriten was really good. In Japan, fried chicken usually means karaage, but toriten – maybe it’s a different cut – was crisp outside and tender inside. If you can’t find anything decent to eat in Beppu, be sure to try it. B-grade or not, there’s really nowhere to eat in Beppu.