Beppu
After month’s of waiting, the amusement park that seemed too crazy to be true receives its first visitors.
Travelers have been visiting Beppu for its natural baths for years, but now the onsen is coming to them instead.
The Mayor of Beppu is delivering on his promise of a hot spring amusement park with tickets, fireworks and home-delivered onsen water for patrons.
The mayor who pledged to create an onsen amusement park if his video received a million views now has another message for the public.
The clip shows a number of jaw-dropping ideas for the spa-filled amusement park, including onsen carousels and roller coasters filled with spring water.
Japan may be a small country in terms of area, but it certainly makes up for it with 47 distinct prefectures that have their own vibrant personalities. Prefectures like Tokyo and Osaka dominate with their big city lifestyles, while Kyoto and Nara rely on their richly preserved history. Some have festivals that have survived for hundreds of years, others have geological formations that make them stand out or new attractions that you can’t find anywhere else.
For prefectures to separate themselves from the rest and showcase what makes them special, they have to do something grand. In Oita Prefecture, this means presenting their world-famous hot springs with a synchronized swimming team in what can only be known as “synchronized bathing”.