Aoshima

Aoshima is a flat island about 1.5 kilometres around, joined to the shore by a causeway, and it is entirely covered in subtropical vegetation - some two hundred species including a large stand of betel palm, unusual at this latitude and protected as a natural monument. Aoshima Shrine sits in the middle of it. The rock around the island is what people photograph: alternating layers of sandstone and mudstone, tilted and then planed off by the waves, so the harder beds stand up as parallel ridges running out from the shore in regular rows. The Japanese name is oni no sentakuita, the devil's washboard, and the description is exact. It extends along the Nichinan coast beyond the island. The ridges are exposed at low tide and covered at high, so the tide table decides what the visit looks like.

What you actually see

• The washboard - parallel rock ridges from tilted beds planed by the waves.
• A palm-covered island - two hundred subtropical species including protected betel palm.
• Aoshima Shrine - at the centre of the island, reached across the causeway.
• Tide dependence - the ridges exposed at low water and submerged at high.

When to go

All year, timed to low tide. Two hours.

Honest expectations

At high tide the rock shelf is underwater and the main sight is gone - check the table. The island is small and the walk round it is short. Typhoons hit this coast directly. Summer is hot and humid with little shade on the shelf.

Nearby

Udo Shrine is south along the Nichinan coast; Miyazaki is north.