Tōshijima Onsen

Toshijima Onsen rises on Toshijima Island in Ago Bay, Mie Prefecture—the island at the center of Japan's pearl cultivation industry, where the ama women divers (female free-divers who have worked these waters for over two thousand years without breathing apparatus) harvest pearls, abalone, and sea vegetables in one of Japan's most distinctive and physically demanding traditional ocean-work cultures. The iodine-rich thermal waters emerge from the ancient marine sedimentary geology beneath the island, delivering the antibacterial and skin-conditioning mineral benefits that complement the maritime character of an island community whose women have spent their working lives immersed in the salt water of Ago Bay. Bathing in Toshijima's iodine spring water—mineral-rich from the same ancient sea-floor geology that surrounds the island—creates a connection between the thermal spring's geological heritage and the extraordinary diving heritage of the ama who have worked these waters for millennia.