Certified Tourist Information Centers (TICs) in Japan

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• Multilingual travel advice

  Head for the handwritten travel information board and step inside the spacious entrance towards the counter where staff are waiting to greet you. Peruse the assortment of pamphlets, with thoughtful handmade comment cards attached, offering information on every area of the prefecture, and have a seat on the sofa to plan your adventure in comfort. In addition to Japanese and English, many staff members are ready to assist you in other languages such as Korean, Chinese, and Thai.

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• A hub of doting care

  At WANDER COMPASS BEPPU, more than 20 staff members come from various ages and backgrounds. These include office workers who tend the counter on weekends on their day off and senior members knowledgeable about local history and hot springs. Not only locally born people, but also many who moved to Beppu are here. However, all staff members share a love for Beppu and a “doting” spirit. The WANDER COMPASS BEPPU staff truly desire to help others on their journey. “All the staff here are kind and doting, so it's sure to bring out the kindness in others as well,” says Ms. Inazumi, manager of WANDER COMPASS BEPPU.

• Here are some of the highlights of both WANDER COMPASS BEPPU and the region according to Ms. Inazumi.

  Q：What’s your recommendation for visitors to Beppu?

  A：Ultimately, it's got to be the hot springs. I especially like Beppu's 53 public hot spring bath houses, commonly known as “jimosen,” where local people go. Admission is from 100 to 300 yen, and even though the price has recently risen slightly, you can still enter plenty of places for 100 yen. People often ask, “Where is the best hot spring in Beppu?” but that's a tough question. There are so many different types of hot springs around here like sand baths, mud baths, open-air baths, and so on. So after talking a bit with them, I try to recommend what I think that person would enjoy most. I also suggest exploring local attractions other than onsen such as “Jigokumushi,” a kind of cuisine made with hot spring steam, or strolling through the Kannawa area, where steam rises from the ground. I hope that the full enjoyment of Beppu's hot springs with all the senses exceeds everyone's expectations.

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• Q：When should people come to WANDER COMPASS BEPPU?

  A：It's nice to stop by on a day even when you don't have any other businesses. Come chat with our friendly staff. By talking with travelers, we can get a better idea of their interests and needs and make suitable recommendations. Through such conversations, visitors often think of many questions as well. Things that you might plan to look up on the internet, if you ask the staff it often leads to new discoveries. We think of ourselves as reviewers, and the suggestions on our bulletin board and on the hand drawn map are all places where we have been ourselves and truly recommend. If, on their flight back home, a traveler recalls a staff recommendation for a place they couldn't visit this trip, but thinks they'd love to go next time, we'd be so happy.

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• Q：What kind of place is the tourist information center for you?

  A： It's a place to enjoy meeting people. When I'm at the tourist information center, it doesn't feel like I'm working. If I suddenly talk to a stranger in town, they might think I am a salesperson or a suspicious person, but when I'm here, I can dote on people as much as I want. I think all my coworkers like to dote on others and come to work every day at the tourist information center looking forward to meeting new people.

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• Next time you come to Beppu, don't just warm your body at the hot springs, but also drop by WANDER COMPASS BEPPU to warm your heart!

*The information herein is as of December 2022.