Takegawara Onsen, Beppu Overview
A bathhouse first opened in 1879 and rebuilt in 1938, with a heavy tiled roof and a wooden interior that has not been modernised. The draw is the sand bath: you lie in a shallow trench while attendants shovel naturally heated black sand over you for around ten minutes. It is the oldest and most atmospheric place in the city to do it, and the queue reflects that.
