Folding Kayaks Forum

Hello all,

I have recently got into sea kayaking. I live in Japan, and I'm looking forward to paddling as much as I can here. Any input about good places to go, recommendations, or even sites to check out would be most welcome. I have the book 55 sea kayaking routes in Japan, and I have been reading it, and it has some good suggestions. Nothing is as useful as first-hand advice, so if you have any to share, please do so. Thank you in advance,

Miklos

Nansei Shoto

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Feathercraft Kahuna ( Angela )
Mariner Express ( Miruku Maru ) ( In Storage)
Northwest Sportee (SuperBoat)
Innova Safari
Mariner I
Feathercraft Java
Nautiraid 14
Innova Sunny
Aire Tributary Sawtooth

Please enter your general location in your profile so that it shows in the left margin when you post. (Translation: Japan is a big country, which makes your question far too general.)

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Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

A propos of your post elsewhere-- check out 21 and 22 in the 55-book.

_________________
Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

You are perfectly right. I should have mentioned that I live in Tochigi-ken. I am willing to go as far north as tohoku, as far west as Toyama-Ishikawa, and as far south as Chiba or the Izu islands. For longer trips, I might be able to go further, but most of all, I am interested in trips in the area within the above boundaries. Thanks again.


Miklos

I had a pretty nice surf session at Chiosi about 7 years ago.

_________________
Feathercraft Kahuna ( Angela )
Mariner Express ( Miruku Maru ) ( In Storage)
Northwest Sportee (SuperBoat)
Innova Safari
Mariner I
Feathercraft Java
Nautiraid 14
Innova Sunny
Aire Tributary Sawtooth

Dear chrstjrn,

Thanks for your reply. I did check out those two. Actually, I decided to go to Miura exactly because I had the book and they seemed to be obvious first choices. Which other ones have you done? I am planning to do 13 and 14 up in Tohoku in about 4 days time, and then down to Izu, and do 25 and 26. Any input on these? Thanks in advance,

Miklos

I'm sorry-- I haven't done the ones you mentioned. I was living in downtown Tokyo and usually didn't have anyone else to go paddling with, so I didn't get out as much as I would have liked, especially on the ocean.

_________________
Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

I don't know about the book you are mentioning, but I'm sure this spot has to be there.

Rikuchu Kaigan National Park, which spans the coast of most of Iwate and a bit of Miyagi, has 180 miles of rugged coast. In particular the area around Kitayama-saki Point is the stuff you usually get to watch on those high definition TVs at the mall. With cliffs raising 300 meters from the surf, they are rightfully called the alps of the sea.

I guess a picture is worth a thousand words:


photograph courtesy of philip.greenspun.com

I'm saving this spot for next year, when hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing There are fishing ports to the north and south, 9 miles apart, with convenient train stations on both ends. You could do one way and ride the train the other.

I tried to do a search for the book you mentioned but could not find it. I take it that's a Japanese book? Do you know the name in Japanese?

- DN

Hello Devnull,

Just got back from 3 days of paddling in Matsushima. It was awesome. Lots of caves, tunnels, and an amazing coastline.

The area you mention is indeed also in the book. It's number 11, and it's supposedly ok for beginners if you do it in the summer.

The book is called

Zenkoku Shiikayakkingu 55 map (ISBN4-635-50028-4)

I just tried to type in the title in Japanese, but it got garbled, so I romanized it.



Available in larger bookstores, published by Yamakei. They also have the river kayaking version with another 55 maps.

Nice shot by the way. I also checked out this national park a few years ago, and found it very impressive.

Miklos

I went and bought the book. Area 11 is not the Kitayama-saki Point, but 25 miles south of it.

Funny enough I'll be on Miyako (area 11) next weekend on a two day hiking (mount Hayachine) and beach (Yogodahama) family expedition. The good thing about being an early morning person is that by the time the family wakes up and realize that I'm gone, I'll be half way paddling number 11 on the book

If you look at the map for area 12, the big peninsula and the town on its neck are called funakoshi. To the north is area 12, to the south of the neck is another wonderful area with exposed waters. The trip from Funakoshi to Koyatori town is 4.5 miles on very lively seas, with cedar-crowned cliffs beref of landing spots until you enter the Koyatori bay. Chances are I'll do this one before I try to tackle Kitayama-saki Point.

- DN

Nick, I did a small chunk of the Miyako coast this past weekend, simply amazing. I could not do much, I was with the family and could only sneak out for a couple of hours, but it was enough to make me want to go back as soon as possible.

I'm thinking about going there next Sunday. Let me know if you would like to come

Hello Devnull,

Sorry about the one year overdue reply
Any good places you have discovered in the past year? I'm considering doing west and south izu in the first few days of aug. Do you have any plans?

Miklos

Welcome back. Did we mention the area north of Sendai anywhere in this thread? That is well-known for sea-kayaking. I didn't make it there when I was in Japan.

_________________
Chris T.
~'91 Klepper A2 w/ BSD schooner rig.
'64 Klepper Passat/Tradewind and T12 restoration projects.
Non-folding: Early '90s Old Town Canoe.
Previously owned '04 Pakboat Puffin II and '05 Swift (prototype), as well as an '84 Hobie 16.

No worries, I'm terrible at keeping in touch

First week of August is when up here the festival season moves into full swing. Aomori Nebuta, Goshogawara, Irosaki Neputa, Kuroishi, etc. etc. etc. The wife would not allow her designated driver to take off during that

For a hell of a kayaking/hiking experience there is Gazan. This is the third holiest mountain in Japan and taking the 3-hour hike rewards you with a visit to the shrine where (for 500 yen) you can get blessed by a shinto monk. This blessing also includes a small sip of complimentary sake, which will leave you yearning for more so I suggest you also bring your own . This shrine is part of the three holy shrines of dewa sansan. Another one can be reached from this hike, the last one is a bit far for it to be a continuous hike.

Gazan lake was form by an hydroelectric dam. The steep mountainous region makes it look like fiords, with huge highway bridges crossing it at two junctures. The deep waters and dark green mountains are breath taking.

Yamagata is also the home of the little known Japanese budhist mummies. When people talk about the remote and mysterious deep north, this is the kind of stuff that they refer to.

I'm finally doing Kitayama-saki point in early September. If you want to tag along let me know. At the same time you could do the Towada lake, one of the most beautiful spots in Japan.

- DN