Aoshima, Island of Legend

The “Devil’s Washboard” and the Legend of Yamasachihiko

Aoshima, an island just off the coast in the northern part of Miyazaki Prefecture’s Nichinan Kaigan region, is designated a special natural monument as the home of 27 tropical and subtropical palm species, including the fan palm. The island, just 860 meters around, is surrounded by unique rock formations that look like a giant washboard. Formed by seabed uplift over 700 million years, the angled ridges in the rock were created by wave action, which yielded this unique natural feature.

The “Devil’s Washboard” is designated a historic site, place of scenic beauty, and natural monument. (© Ōsaka Hiroshi)

Aoshima is also the setting for the story of Hoori, as Yamasachihiko was also known. Hoori took the daughter of the sea deity as his wife and brought her to the island when she was with child. Buttressed by this legend, on the island Aoshima Shrine venerates the deity of matrimony. A sacred site from prehistoric times, the island features rocks worshipped by Yayoi period (ca. 300 BC–300 AD) people as deities and their dwelling places.

Ancient Site of Worship

Aoshima is about a 30-minute drive south of the city of Miyazaki. Past the airport, the landscape gradually gives way to an expansive scene of sky and rice paddies, and the island looms as a dark mass beyond the glittering sea. The causeway linking this sacred island to the mainland doubles as the main shrine approach, bordered on each side by the ridged “washboard” rock formations. Past the torii gate, the path runs along the quiet seashore, with the blue sea stretching to the horizon.

The island is composed of shell sediment built up when the area was under the sea; the beach consists of shells from conch and bivalve shell fragments rather than sand. Cowrie shells, in particular, have been called masago since ancient times, and Aoshima derives its alternate name of Masagojima (masago island) from this. Collecting cowrie shells from the beach and offering them at the shrine’s former prayer hall, is said to make wishes come true.

Countless cowrie shell offerings top a ridged rock at the former prayer hall. (© Ōsaka Hiroshi)

Walking along a path fringed with tropical vegetation toward the former prayer hall at the center of the island brings visitors to a small red shrine building. Behind it is an area where kami reside, consisting of large and small stones laid out in circles. Animal bones and Yayoi period pottery have been excavated here, so the area is presumed to be a site of ancient religious rituals.

Among the artifacts discovered are vessels called hiraka, ritual implements of unglazed pottery. Visitors can engage in fortune-telling here; if a hiraka tossed from outside the fence lands inside one of the stone circles, the person’s wish will be granted.

The story of Hoori and his bride ends with the woman leaving her child behind and leaving the island. No one has recorded whether he tried tossing a hiraka to predict whether she would return.

A deity dwells within a stone circle surrounded by trees. (© Ōsaka Hiroshi)

(Originally published in Japanese. Text and editing by Kitazaki Jirō. Banner photo © Ōsaka Hiroshi.)