Rainy season is over and school holidays started, and very hot summer has arrived in Japan. Would you like some beach holidays? Check this list of clean beaches in Japan before planning a trip.
But some of you may wonder, “what is a clean beach?” A clean beach here does not refer to a beach free of empty plastic bottles or tangled fishing lines, but a beach with good water quality.
The Ministry of the Environment, Japan compiles and releases the results of a nationwide water quality test of beaches conducted by local governments every year (except for 2020 and 2021,due to Covid-19 pandemic). Test items include fecal coliform count, presence of oil film, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and transparency.
The COD is an indicator to measure pollution caused by organic matter in water. The COD test is often used to monitor water treatment plant efficiency. A high COD level means that water contains many substances that consume oxygen. Therefore, if the COD level is high, especially in a lake or other stagnant water, the water lacks oxygen and is not suitable for fish. Meanwhile, low COD level means the water has less pollutants and plenty of oxygen dissolved.
In 2023, all the 777 beaches of which the Ministry obtained the test results were found fit for swimming. And out of these, the following beaches are the cleanest with especially low COD levels.
Where are they on the map of Japan? And how can we get there?
To the remote islands of Tokyo are accessible by plane or ferry. This website will help you find transport options from the main island to each of the islands.
To Nanao City in Ishikawa Prefecture, you can use either plane + train/ shinkansen + train (and of course you can drive). It will take about an hour from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Noto Airport, and then a bus and train rides from the airport. The fastest way would be by shinkansen (about 2 hours 35 minutes) and local train (about 50 minutes). Shinkansen & local train service is available to get to Numazu City (about 1 hour 15 minutes in total) too.
Okinawa may seem very far from Tokyo, but is well connected. More than 30 direct flights a day fly from Haneda Airport to Naha Airport (as of July 28, 2023).
Beaches with particularly good water quality 2022
Let’s look at the last year’s list. Three beaches on the remote islands of Tokyo appear in the list of 2022 too.
Happy holidays!
(Source: Ministry of the Environment, Japan)
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