Okamotoya Ryokan

A 150-year-old wooden inn in Beppu's sulphur-steam hamlet of Myoban, with a free-flowing milky-blue spring, Oita kaiseki and the original jigoku-mushi pudding — but only three of its 15 rooms have their own bath, the stairs are steep, and a renovated room disappointed in 2026

Okamotoya was opened in 1875 by a family that had been sent to Myoban to oversee its sulphur and alum works; the third generation turned the area's yunohana crystals into a bath product in 1884, and the inn's shop has sold its famous jigoku-mushi pudding since 1988. Today it is a 15-room wooden house above the Myoban Bridge, and the draw is the water: the inn's own self-flowing acidic sulphur spring, 100% free-flowing with no water or heating added, which turns from pale blue to milky white depending on light and season. Japanese guests rate it 4.74 across 43 reviews on one booking site (baths 4.91, food 4.86), 4.59 across 501 on another and 4.4 across 563 on a third, where rooms score lowest at 4.0. Bloggers who stayed from 2023 to 2025 praised the spotless baths, a spacious lukewarm open-air pool, Oita sashimi and wagyu, steamed sea bream, dango-jiru breakfasts and the pudding served for dessert; 2026 reviewers add attentive staff and a view over Beppu Bay from the dining room. The building shows its age: creaking, steep stairs, a sloping approach to the open-air bath with one awkward handrail (2025), hard futons, a cold first-night rice and soup, and a lantern with a loose contact (2026). One April 2026 couple scored a renovated room 2 out of 5 — low lights and sink, no door to block corridor and toilet noise. Room-only stays start around ¥41,800 for two; with two meals, most 2026 reviewers paid over ¥30,000 per person.