Toshi and Miyuki getting ready
Riku's very interesting Batman tail board, by a Japanese shaper
Sunday morning the weather looked better than last week as we escaped from another typhoon (it changed course and got lost in the Sea of Japan). In fact, when we got to the first beach, in central Chiba, it looked as if the clouds would soon clear and it would be a sunny day. Hum, maybe that was a little bit of wishful thinking!
The surf on tap at the first few beaches we saw was pretty tiny, mainly long boardable stuff. So we kept driving until we arrived to Ichiomiya. We parked on a crowded side street (especially considering it’s only 7am at this point) and, after a very nice trek through the woods, we had the pleasant surprise to see decent waves here. Sure, I could have used a little more size with my 5’10 shorty, but waist to occasional chest high was not so bad either.
First beach we checked out, pretty weak...
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The beach where we surfed
The trek to the beach
One major problem all day: the lineup was pretty crowded, every wave was a battle for who would drop in first. At least they weren’t many long boarders, or it would have been a frustrating day…
One thing that really amazes me about Japanese surfers is their wetsuits. They’re either colorful or have some cool designs (tatoo-like prints and so one). Of course, some people overdo it. Today we met Perfume Boy. He was wearing a blue suit with red and white motives, matched perfectly with his blue, red and white board. And he reeked of cologne! Oh, did I mention the golden pirate-style earring? Every time he would catch a wave, a whiff of strong perfume would hit those unfortunate enough to be near his path.
After 2 hours, we finished the early morning session and had some food. Another big surprise for me: 5 minutes from the beach there was a taco shop! Well, the chicken taco I ordered had more of a burrito feel to it, but come on, this is Japan after all, not SoCal.
For the late morning/afternoon sesh, it started raining, and the rain didn’t stop for the rest of the day. It helped a little bit with the crowd and didn’t affect the outside temperature so much. The water though was getting colder, and by the time we called it a day around 2pm it was downright freezing.
For lunch we went to a local fish restaurant (located in-between 2 surf shops) where I had an amazing assortment of sashimi. I’m sure that by now the mercury level in my body is reaching alarming heights, but the fish here is so good it’s hard to
resist!
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