“Hell’s Cooking” — A Volcanic Hot Springs Restaurant in Beppu (????)

This was one of our favorite places we visited on our recent trip to Japan: a restaurant on the top of a steep hill in the sleepy town of Beppu, on the southern island of Kyushu. Beppu is known for its volcanic hot springs. At this restaurant, you cook your own food in a special “oven” that is heated by steam coming directly from geothermally heated springs.

Here is Janna, lowering a basket of food into the center of the Earth:

And here are some shots of the food we cooked. It couldn’t be simpler, or more delicious.