Summer in Japan: The Beach

August 28, 2010 psychoballerina
Tags: beach, natsu, Travel

When Summer hits, or more precisely, Umi no Hi (Ocean day) on July 18, beach season is declared officially open. Thus the Tokyo residents grab diaries and madly find at least one day before August 31 to hit the crowded stretches of sand in the Shonan or Chiba areas. If you’re lucky you may make it down to Shirahama, the white sanded beach near Shimoda in Izu but for most of us a day trip is all we can hope for.

My friends and I are no different. After a fair bit of back-and-forth negotiation of days and free time, we finally found a suitable time. This time happened to be a Wednesday, which meant a pleasantly uncrowded beach on a gorgeous sunny day. For our spot of sand we chose Zushi, an hours train ride from Tokyo.

Zushi is an amiable little town just beyond Kamakura. It may not be the world’s cleanest beach, nor the cleanest ocean but it is a perfectly agreeable place with a great summertime atmosphere. The beach is lined with bars, great for that post-swim drink and is home to Otodama, a beachside livehouse. Famous Japanese acts will play there throughout the summer and during our stay, we could hear Otsuka Ai entertain the sweaty masses while we kept cool in the sea.

After a bit of time splashing in the water, lying on the beach and having a giggle it was suddenl sundown. The old adage about time flying really does apply when you’re having fun. We ignored the less-than-blue water and merrily dived over waves, and floated in the water just feeling the relaxed bliss a day at the beach can bring… Lying in the water, arms outstretched, the noise of the world muffled by the water and above your eyes an endless blue sky, Ahhh…

As the sun set, we went for that drink. A rum and coke as the sun made glowing shapes out of the clouds and golden waves that came crashing into shore.

That’s the thing about Japan, amidst the hustle, bustle and general mayhem, even at the beach, you can find a small centre of peace and calm. In true Japanese style though, next week it will be truly calm. After next Tuesday, the 31st will hit and the beaches close becoming a ghost town once again. Time limited beach fun… aaah Japan.

Entry Filed under: Japanese Life,The Great Outdoors

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