Miyazaki Aoshima Onsen

Miyazaki Aoshima Onsen is a thermal bathing facility near Aoshima in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, situated close to Aoshima Island, one of Japan's most visually arresting small shrine islands whose tiny tropical island is fringed by the extraordinary Oni no Sentakuita, the Devil's Washboard, a dramatic formation of perfectly parallel horizontal rock ridges created by differential erosion of wave-smoothed sandstone and mudstone layers into an otherworldly geometric natural sculpture extending hundreds of meters along the coastline in a pattern of almost artificial regularity. The island's Aoshima Shrine, surrounded by subtropical coastal vegetation of cycads, sea grape, and Washingtonia palms that create a tropical ambiance unusual this far north in Japan, is dedicated to the sea deity and fishermen's patron and receives particularly large numbers of visitors at New Year for the traditional first prayer of the new year. The chloride thermal spring waters of Miyazaki Aoshima Onsen provide coastal spa relaxation in the Pacific resort city of Miyazaki, where the subtropical climate, fine black sand beaches, and the strange beauty of the Aoshima Devil's Washboard create a uniquely tropical Japanese hot spring setting facing the warm Kuroshio current waters of the Pacific Ocean.