I visited Beppu in March 2010 to see Beppu Projects. It was an intense couple days after the week of intensity that was finishing up my residency at Tokyo Wonder Site. I was spat out of Tokyo, being the hopeless packer that I am and found myself in another warmer world. I am looking forward to returning to Beppu.
The view out the window on the clear day I arrived- for the view in room check the Fuji blog. To summarise, excellent food, climbing mountains (one of the famous 200, not sure if it part of the famous 100), a feeling of what post-war Japan would have been like, old interesting onsen, the scariest onset experience ever- the mud onsen DONT GO THERE!, interesting art, very nice people, Plus the sound scape of many stray cats and a fascinating visit to the Monkey Mountain.
Hi
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post! Sounds like you had a good time in Beppu. I once went on a school trip to Beppu when I was a junior high student. I wonder if the town has lost its vitality(judging from your photos). It was full of life when I visited it. Oh Mud Onsens! I have had no guts to experience one!!
Hello Sapphire! Thanks for dropping by, I enjoyed your last posts and saw that you where taking a break, so it is nice to see you here. Yes Beppu has lost some of its vitality, however that does make a really interesting place for art projects to happen. The Beppu projects made a kind of internal exchange money which meant you ate at certain places and would run into the same locals and artists at the onsens and dinner. It was amazing how quickly people recognised you and asked how your day had been.
ReplyDeletewhich certainly made a difference to Aoyama and Shibuya!
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