As we pull into the Japanese city of Beppu and I gaze across the skyline, my first panic-stricken thought is that the streets are ablaze with raging fires spewing angry white plumes into the air.
But then I remember this is Japan’s spa capital, sprinkled with hot springs and air vents that are constantly pumping out vaporous steam clouds which inexorably curl skywards in an extraordinary spectacle.
A short time later we’re walking among them, navigating our way past sizzling streams of gushing water and thermal vents blasting out rising curtains of steam in the streets – some of the 2,000-plus pressure points in the city.
This region’s geothermal energy is so potent it powers Beppu’s homes and, much to our surprise, steam kitchens, where we come across restaurant staff juggling naturally powered bubbling pots.
