Japan for Surfers & Beach Travelers

About this book

Surfing in Japan is a whole civilisation — and this is its first complete English guide. Two hundred entries in one uniform format take you from the physics of a Japanese wave (typhoon swell, the winter monsoon, tides that switch breaks on and off) through every surf coast in the country: Hokkaido's cold points, the Olympic water at Shidashita, Shonan's dawn-patrol heartland, the Izu Peninsula, Shikoku's famous river mouths, Miyazaki the surf prefecture, and the coral reefs of Okinawa. Along the way it covers the towns the waves built, the boards and wetsuits the seasons demand, the lineup rules that keep the world's most crowded home water peaceful, the safety knowledge the sea insists on — and complete surf journeys for every kind of traveller, from first-lesson beginners to non-surfing companions. No forecasts, no hype: the knowledge that lets you read any Japanese beach yourself. Written in Japan, by the coast's own people.