Smoking Areas in Beppu: 2026 Guide (around Beppu Station, the onsen district and the Hells)

About this guide and disclaimer

This is a third-party guide compiled from the JR Kyushu official site, the Beppu City official site (https://www.city.beppu.oita.jp/), Beppu City's ordinance database and the Oita Prefecture official site, reflecting the situation as of July 2026. The availability, location and operating hours of smoking areas may change without notice. This article does not encourage smoking in any particular place. When you actually go, always check the latest official guidance and smoke only at designated places, with good manners. Where we could not confirm official primary information, we say so and do not assert a location.

Smoking at Beppu Station (JR Kyushu stations are non-smoking)

Beppu Station, the gateway to sightseeing in Beppu, is a conventional-line station on JR Kyushu's Nippo Line. On its official "measures to prevent second-hand smoke" page, JR Kyushu states that since 1 April 2020 its stations have been non-smoking with limited exceptions.

The four places listed by the company as having smoking rooms are the Shinkansen platform at Hakata Station, the Shinkansen platform at Kumamoto Station, inside the Shinkansen ticket gates at Kagoshima-Chuo Station, and inside the Shinkansen ticket gates at Nagasaki Station. Beppu Station is not on this list. Assume that you cannot smoke inside Beppu Station.

JR Kyushu also prohibits the use, at stations and on trains, of electrically heated tobacco and e-cigarettes and similar products that produce vapour and whose use closely resembles smoking. Being a heated product does not make it acceptable at a station. Conventional-line trains are entirely non-smoking as well, so you cannot smoke on board limited expresses such as the Sonic on the way into Beppu.

For outdoor smoking areas around Beppu Station, we could not confirm official primary information, so this article does not assert a location. If you look for a smoking area in front of the station or at nearby commercial facilities, check the in-building signage and each facility's official guidance. As the next section explains, the area around Beppu Station is designated as a litter-prevention area under a city ordinance, so how you handle butts matters especially there.

The Beppu City beautification ordinance: six designated litter-prevention areas

Beppu City has the "Beppu City Regional Environmental Beautification Ordinance," in force since 1 April 2001. Its purpose is to promote the beautification of the city by setting out the matters necessary for preventing the scattering of cans, cigarette butts and similar litter, preventing abandoned bicycles, and handling these appropriately. Under Article 8, the mayor may designate public places where measures against such scattering particularly need to be implemented as "litter-prevention areas."

According to the Beppu City official site, six areas are designated. Note that the area around Beppu Station, where tourists gather, is among them.

• Around Beppu Station
• Around the International Tourist Port
• Around the Beppu Interchange
• Around Higashi-Beppu
• Around Seki-no-e
• Around Beppu Park

Article 9 of the ordinance provides that residents and others "shall not carelessly discard cans, cigarette butts and similar litter in a litter-prevention area." As for penalties, Article 21 provides a fine of up to 50,000 yen for violating an order under Article 12(2), and a fine of up to 30,000 yen for violating an order under Article 12(3).

What matters here is the scope of the regulation. Within the text we examined, what this ordinance prohibits is discarding cans, butts and similar litter in a litter-prevention area; it contains no provision banning the act of smoking itself. This differs from the approach in wards such as Chiyoda and Shinjuku, which ban street smoking itself with an administrative fine. That does not mean "you may smoke freely in front of Beppu Station." Indoors is in principle non-smoking, and outdoors consideration for those around you is expected. Dropping a butt on the ground falls squarely within the prohibited conduct, so treat carrying a portable ashtray as essential.

Oita Prefecture's beautification ordinance and the fine for littering

Oita Prefecture has the "Ordinance for a Beautiful and Comfortable Oita Prefecture," which prohibits littering, posting adult flyers, abandoning cars and bicycles, and graffiti. The prefecture's official guidance explains that littering carries an administrative fine of up to 50,000 yen. Cigarette butts fall within this. The prefecture also explains, in substance, that smoking without carrying a portable ashtray tends to lead to butts being littered.

The prefecture's official guidance notes that where a municipal ordinance with similar provisions has been enacted, that ordinance takes precedence. Within Beppu City, this operates alongside the Beppu City Regional Environmental Beautification Ordinance described above. Either way, the only places a butt may go are an ashtray and a portable ashtray.

• Beppu City Regional Environmental Beautification Ordinance: in force 1 April 2001, prohibits discarding butts and similar litter in litter-prevention areas
• Six designated litter-prevention areas including around Beppu Station (Beppu City official)
• Article 21: fines of up to 50,000 yen / up to 30,000 yen for violating an order
• No provision banning the act of smoking itself was found in the text
• Oita Prefecture ordinance: littering prohibited with a fine of up to 50,000 yen (municipal ordinances with similar provisions take precedence)

How to think about smoking in the onsen district and on the Hells tour

Beppu spreads across the hot spring areas known as the Beppu Hatto, and the tour of the "Hells" centred on Kannawa is a signature sightseeing route. For whether these sightseeing spots have smoking areas and where they are, we could not confirm official primary information. This article does not assert the location of smoking areas at individual facilities.

In practice, the realistic approach is as follows. Indoors is in principle non-smoking under the revised Health Promotion Act, so smoking inside a facility is possible only where a smoking room meeting the legal standards has been provided. Outdoors, some facilities set their own places where smoking is possible, so check at reception or on the in-building signage when you enter. If you cannot find any guidance, refrain from smoking and wait until you can confirm a designated place.

The onsen district also has alleys where steam rises and areas lined with wooden buildings. Smoking while walking in a narrow alley should be avoided both for fire safety and to avoid exposing other visitors to second-hand smoke. Be especially careful around places that handle fire and steam, such as the jigoku-mushi steam-cooking facilities.

Smoking rules at onsen ryokan and hotels

Whether guest rooms allow smoking varies greatly between properties. Under the revised Health Promotion Act, the part of a hotel or ryokan guest room that constitutes "a place used for a person's residence" is treated as outside the scope of the regulation, so some properties allow smoking in rooms while others are entirely non-smoking with a smoking area elsewhere on the premises. Shared spaces such as corridors, lobbies, baths and dining areas are in principle non-smoking indoors.

If you want a room where smoking is allowed, always confirm with the property when booking. Smoking in a room because "only non-smoking rooms were available" can result in a special cleaning fee. Whether heated tobacco may be used in a room also differs by property, so confirming in advance is the reliable route. Beppu has a large number of properties, so deciding your conditions first tends to get you to a booking faster.

The revised Health Promotion Act, heated tobacco and the under-20 entry ban

According to Beppu City's official guidance, the revised Health Promotion Act came fully into force on 1 April 2020, with "eliminating unwanted second-hand smoke" as its basic policy. It was phased in: from July 2019 schools, hospitals and administrative bodies became in principle non-smoking on their entire grounds, and from April 2020 restaurants and facilities used by many people became in principle non-smoking indoors.

Heated tobacco is also covered. A smoking room exclusively for heated tobacco may be provided in part of a facility as a transitional measure, but cigarettes cannot be smoked there. Do not assume that "heated should be fine" at a restaurant; always check the sign at the entrance or inside.

Smoking under the age of 20 is prohibited by law in Japan. Under the revised Health Promotion Act, people under 20, who are more strongly affected by second-hand smoke, may not enter places where smoking is permitted even when they are not there to smoke. Please keep this in mind if you visit Beppu with family.

Find nearby smoking areas with MottoSuitai

If you want to find smoking areas around Beppu Station or elsewhere in Oita Prefecture, you can list nearby smoking areas from MottoSuitai's map. For the prefectural capital in the same prefecture, see the Oita Station smoking guide, and for smoking rules when staying at a hot spring inn, see the onsen ryokan smoking room guide as well.

Before you go: always check official information

This third-party guide was compiled from the JR Kyushu official site, the Beppu City official site and ordinance database, and the Oita Prefecture official site as published as of July 2026. The location, number and operating hours of smoking areas, and how ordinances are applied, may change, and where official primary information could not be confirmed we have not asserted a location. When you actually go, always confirm the latest information on the Beppu City official site (https://www.city.beppu.oita.jp/), the JR Kyushu official site and each facility's official guidance. Please smoke only at designated places, with good manners.