Beppu Hatto Onsen-do Meijin
Certified master of the Beppu Hatto Onsen-do
Beppu — the city with more natural hot spring water than anywhere else on Earth — runs the Beppu Hatto Onsen-do (別府八湯温泉道), a stamp-rally program operating since 2001 that spans the city's eight bathing quarters: Hamawaki, Beppu, Kankaiji, Horita, Myōban, Kannawa, Shibaseki, and Kamegawa. Participants buy a stamp book called the Supaport (スパポート) at the JR Beppu Station tourist information center, collect stamps at the ~150 participating facilities, and — on reaching 88 stamps — are recognized as Onsen-do Meijin (温泉道名人). Meijin portraits are permanently displayed at Hyōtan Onsen in Kannawa.
How to earn
This badge is awarded by Onsen Oni moderators to users who have completed the Beppu Hatto Onsen-do program and earned the Meijin title. Send evidence (Supaport, Meijin certificate, or portrait card) through the feedback channel and moderators will grant the badge. Because the program extends beyond Meijin (see Eisei Meijin), this badge is repeatable — the number on your tile shows how many Meijin cycles you've completed.
Rank tiers on the way to Meijin
The Supaport has intermediate rank towels along the way:
- 8 stamps — white towel (初段 / shodan)
- 24 stamps — green towel
- 40 stamps — red towel
- 56 stamps — blue towel
- 88 stamps — Meijin towel — certification as Onsen-do Meijin
Rank certification costs ¥800 per rank at the Onsen-do office; a Meijin-only shortcut certification is available for ¥2,200. Guidebooks are published in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.