This is Miura beach. And, this is the last beach hut standing. They are in the process of disassembling it and storing it away until next summer. It was not a good summer for beach goers. Everyone knows why.
Miura beach is usually packed with people this time of year. Not so this year.
It's not totally deserted. However, in the past one needed to watch where they walked for fear of stepping on a sunbather or a child playing in the sand.
There was heavy rain yesterday and the runoff carved a little stream leading to the ocean.
The beach runs parallel to route 134. Correction, route 134 runs parallel to Miura beach. Anyway, the road is populated with all the old familiar faces.
Miura beach is a popular destination for windsurfers. I'll be doing a post on the Miura beach windsurfers in the near future.
On a windy Sunday this stretch of the beach will be packed with windsurfers; COVID or not they will be here.
As I continue walking along the coast heading in the northern direction Miura beach fades in the background and we see more breakwaters to protect fishing ports.
I've finally reached Nobi beach. A different kind of crowd hangs out here.
This area is better suited to dog walkers than wind surfers.
The coast is heavily reinforced with concrete to protect the coast from typhoons and tsunamis.
One man sits and thinks.
Another man cooks under the summer sun.
Me, I just walk along with my camera taking pictures as I go.
It's near the end of the day. The coast is on the left but I'll follow the road on the right, it'll take me to Nobi train station where I'll catch a train for home.
One last lookback at the ocean as I say goodbye for now.
Day two: The hut is still standing!
Firstly, this is Miurakaikan train station. The entrance to the station is in the lower righthand corner of the picture. It's a huge station designed to handle the large crowds of beach goers coming here from Tokyo, Yokohama, and many other places. No crowds this year, maybe next year will be different.
Now for the beach hut. They're making progress. In a couple days it should be gone.
There used to be a very nice McDonalds here at the beach. They tore it down and built this box shaped monstrosity. The second floor has a nice ocean view and that's about all it has in common with the old McDonalds.
Time to explore the southern end of the beach.
The man on the beach is an instructor and he's shouting instructions to the kids on the paddle boards.
Big driftwood.
A beachfront coffee shop. Unfortunately it won't be open until 11:00 am and that's not soon enough for me.
Speaking of beachfront, here's a nice little piece of property, a real fix-me-upper for an ambitious youtuber to take on as a project. We could all follow along as he (or she) turns it into their dream beachfront tiny house!
Anyway, time to turn around and start walking toward todays ultimate destination - Tsukuihama train station.
I've never seen anybody use these boats.
Time for a surfing safari!
Another day, another empty beach.
Wait a minute! Is the rodeo in town?
I'll be covering the Miura beach horses in my next blog post. Stay tuned!
Social distancing at the beach.
This is sad. Before I retired and gave up owning and driving cars Emi and I used to frequently visit this restaurant on Sunday mornings for breakfast. Now it's closed. I didn't know it was out-of-business until today.
Last shot of the day: Watch the seagulls do what they do for a few minutes before I head inland to Tsukuihama train station to catch a train for home.
Thanks for stopping by!
Mike
Bonus shots!
