Hit the surf near Tokyo: Zushi Beach
Posted May 13th, 2008 by Sheila
It’s hard to believe that there’s any sort of beachy, “surf’s up, Dude!” culture in Tokyo, but there certainly is if you take the JR East Yokosuka rail line about an hour south of the city, to Zushi Beach.
It is less well known but not much less crowded than the beaches at Kamakura, and is very popular with windsurfers (and surfers, whenever a freighter steams past and some waves roll in.)
July and August are the “official” beach season. Like so much else in very orderly Japan, the Polynesian-style thatched hut beer joints and fish taco stands don’t begin to appear on the rather grubby sands until it is officially time to appear, then they sprout overnight and disappear as quickly at the end of August.
Rather than spend the ridiculous amount of Yen that you’ll be charged for a beachside meal, head inland a little and go Hawaiian at Vahana’s Bar in Zushi.
It’s a two-story building on a main street in Zushi, with palm fronds and surfboards hanging all over it.
There’s a pretty extensive menu, friendly staff, frequent live music and lots of locals.
Beats the heck out of some overpriced, pretentious club in Roppongi.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:22 am
[…] Scarborough takes us surfing in Japan, go figure. Hit the surf near Tokyo: Zushi Beach posted at Perceptive Travel […]
May 21st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Other great Japanese surf spots in Japan include the swell off Miyazaki-ken, on the eastern side of southerly Kyushu Island. The best spots are near Hyuga and Nichina, which are north and south of Miyazaki City, respectively. You can also surf at Shiratsuru Beach, in the town of Amakusa-machi (part of the Amakusa chain of islands anchored off of Kyushu’s Kumamoto prefecture). Amakusa is a really interesting part of the country, being the place where Christianity first took root after Portuguese missionaries landed here in the 1600s. The people here are amazingly friendly and hospitable, plus there’s a pretty cool underground surf scene. There’s also another gorgeous beach, Mogushi, which is about 45 minutes south of Shiratsuru; Away.com has a profile, photo, and map at: http://blogs.away.com/beach_guide/2008/05/awaycom-beach-w.html (part of a Beach Week series leading up to the Memorial Day weekend).
May 21st, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hi Alistair,
Wow, thanks, that’s some wonderfully-detailed advice!
Readers, Away.com covers a wide array of destinations and activities; go visit them soon.