*Click Here for Day #5 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan.

We got up, packed up the car, and left Roadside Station Takaoka. To start Day #7 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan, we stopped off at the local Lawson convenience store to pick up breakfast.

Our first major stop was Aoshima. Along the way we stopped off in Miyazaki city and picked up a manhole card. It was located on the 3rd floor of Miyazaki city’s water utility office. We really liked the floral designs of their manhole covers.

Aoshima

From there it was a 30 minute drive to Aoshima. We parked in the D-Parking Aoshima Beach Village Parking Lot. The rates were reasonable, the location was amazing, and there were a good amount of spots. We made our way to Aoshima Sando Shopping Street which was the main path leading to Aoshima Shrine on Aoshima Island. Along the way to the shrine, we saw this beautiful floral display depicting this years zodiac animal the rabbit.

We continued on to the Yayoi Bridge which connected the mainland with Aoshima Island. The concrete bridge was pretty wide and very sturdy. On our way back we even saw a delivery truck crossing the bridge to drop off packages at the shrine. As we walked across the bridge, we got a wonderful view of the “Devil’s Washboard”. The unique rock formation was created millions of years ago when hard sandstone and soft mudstone were piled up on each other. Over time, erosion from the ocean waves had washed away the soft mudstone and left the hard sandstone layer that resembled a board. It was low tide, so we were able to get a great view of the rock formation.

Aoshima Shrine

We continued around the southern portion of the island before we reached the entrance to Aoshima Shrine. One thing that stood out to us when we got to Miyazaki and Aoshima in particular was the semi-tropical vegetation. We went up to the main shrine and prayed. On our way out, we picked up a goshuincho and a charm for safety while travelling.

Back on the mainland, we saw this yellow Japan Post Office Box. It was quite picturesque with Aoshima Island and shrine in the background. We headed over to Aoshimaya which was located at the start of the Aoshima Sando Shopping Street. The building housed a large omiyage (souvenir) shop, several cafes, and a tourist information center. We looked around a bit and picked up some mango related goods.

Parabolacho Café

We made sure to stop by Parabolacho Café. We had done some research and knew that Aoshima, and Miyazaki Prefecture in particular were known for the their mangos. This café was known for their mango parfaits and ice cream. We decided to try one of their mango parfaits and a flight of their tropical fruit juices. It was a little chilly outside, but we were surprised to find that we were the only ones in the cafe. Our sweets came out shortly after. The mango chunks in the mango parfait were large and plentiful. The sweet sauce combined with the vanilla soft serve was delicious. The flight of tropical juices was nice as well. They had a nice range of sweet vs tart flavors.

Aoshima Botanical Garden

After our sweet treats, we made brief stop at the Aoshima Botanical Garden. They had a nice variety of tropical and semi-tropical plants. They also had this replica of the Merlion to commemorate their sister botanical garden in Singapore. We wrapped up and headed back to the car.

Udo Shrine

Our next major stop was at Udo Shrine. By chance, when we were doing our initial trip planning we stumbled upon an unaffiliated Totoro themed stop. It was located 20 minutes south of Aoshima and was tucked away just off the main road. Based on the comments we learned that it was the office of a construction company. We appreciated the attention to detail spent on the garage door paintings as they looked just like the anime. The concrete statues were well sculpted and super cute. We snapped a good amount of pictures, left a donation, and continued on our way.

It was a short 15 minute drive to Udo Shrine. The last five or so minutes took us around a narrow coastal road. We had to pull over a couple of times to let oncoming traffic pass by. We were grateful to find a spot in the main parking lot. The second parking lot was a bit of a walk.

Udo Shrines key feature was the main shrine that was built in a cave. It was a short five minute walk along a seaside path. The orange railing created a beautiful scene with the ocean in the background. The main shrine itself was beautiful and completely filled up the cave. We picked up a goshuincho and tried a good luck rock toss before heading back. On the way out we stopped by the Rainforest Café and picked up one of their lemon cream puffs.

The lemon cream puff was really good. It had a tart lemon glaze on top and a fluffy cream with a hint of citrus flavor. We would definitely get it again.

Roadside Station Nango

We made our way south along the coast and stopped for a delicious sashimi lunch at Roadside Station Nango.

Cape Toi

Our last sightseeing stop for the day was the wildlife refuge at Cape Toi. It was a short 25 minute drive to the south. The highlight was the 100 or so wild horses that freely roam the wildlife refuge. The Misaki Horses of Cape Toi are the only wild horses in Japan and were designated a national natural monument. We paid a small fee and entered through the main gate. We were surprised with how developed and nice the road infrastructure was. Our first stop was the very modern and recently built Pakalapaka building. It housed a couple of cafe type restaurants and a lot of information about the horses.

Before heading out we saw a display featuring a Pokemon manhole cover. We asked a staff member and learned it was just outside. We snapped a couple of pictures and headed back to the car.

Our first stop was Misaki Shinto Shrine which was located right on the coast. The shrine was pretty small, but had great views of the Pacific Ocean. We didn’t see any horses, but there were a decent amount of droppings.

When then took a quick drive over to the Cape Toi Lighthouse. It was on top of a hill and had a commanding view of the entire area. It was here that we saw our first horses. They were just grazing in the front area. They caught us by surprise as we turned a corner and they were there.

Our last stop before heading out was Komatsuga Hill. There were a large amount of horses grazing on the hill. We hiked up a bit and got behind them. The view of the horses with the sun setting over Shinbushi Bay were beautiful. These amazing views definitely made the stop worthwhile.

Iwato Onsen

We got back in the car and headed to our next stop. We wanted to take a bath after a long day of sightseeing and being outside. After a brief search, we found an onsen along our route and decided to give it a try. We were surprised to find that the toll route and the local route were estimated by Google Maps to take the same amount of time. We decided to save some money and take the local roads.

About two hours later we reached Iwato Onsen. It was located in a rural area surrounded by rice fields. It was pretty busy as most of the 30 or so parking spaces were filled. We were surprised to find no attendant at the front, only a vending machine. We paid for two adult tickets which came out to a reasonable ¥360/Person.

Afterwards, we headed next door and entered the gender separate bathing areas. There was no attendant to take our tickets, so we assumed it was based on the honors system. The bath was nice a relaxing. We were a little surprised to find that the interior bath had a beautiful rock formation design that was typically reserved for outside. The outside bath had a similar design. After our relaxing bath we got some fruit flavored milk from a vending machine before heading on our way. We later learned that the bath was also a lodging. Perhaps the attendant was addressing other matters at the time.

Sakurajima Service Area

From Iwato Onsen it was a short 30 minute drive to our final destination for the night at the Sakurajima Service Area. We had a delcious dinner, before calling it a night.

Final Thoughts

Wow, another full day of sightseeing and delicious food on our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan. With over five hours of driving we were able to see the major sites along the Miyazaki coast. We also drove enough to set us up nicely for the following day. Our favorite stop for the day was Cape Toi and the Misaki horses. The view of the horses with the Shibushi Bay at sunset as a background was beautiful. Aoshima with its calm tropical climate was a close second.

More to Come…