I'm writing this long after these things happened. Now, they seem like a lifetime ago... Yesterday, 6 new events were approved for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo: surfing (!), softball, baseball, karate, sport climbing, and skateboarding. Surfing will be held in Chiba, near to where I surf. The surfing event location is in Ichinomiya, a little town that is well known for its waves. This past May there was a pro surf competition held there that attracted surfers from around the world. Anyway, that's exciting, I think!
At the beginning of July, I went to Onjuku and stayed at The Flying Sumo for a night. That way I was able to get 2 days of surfing in. The first day I arrived around 10:30 and went out for a good surf. It was a sunny and very windy day, so the conditions were difficult. Paddling against the wind and stopping my board from flying away kept me busy. It was still fun if sloppy and hard. After surfing, the wind wasn't going to die down so I packed the board in for the day and went walking around Onjuku.
Curiously, there are lots of abandoned buildings, some like this one, left in major disrepair and acting as a major hazard.
I found a cat in the ruins! It just stared at me and pretended it couldn't be seen.
Then there is this complex... What it was, I don't know. Perhaps it was a care home, a hotel, or an apartment complex. Inside the plants are taking over and it's wild, as well as another significant safety hazard...
This is Onjuku, the calm before the storm of summer. In the summer, the beach opens and restaurants and vendors open up on the beachfront. They also create swimming areas where we're not allowed to surf. I suppose that's for the best.
The sun was beginning to set. Sooo beautiful.
As usual, I sustained a hand sunburn (this one even peeled!). I even wore sunscreen.
This is the first time I've ever found a sand dollar on the beach. It was so cute and small!
The next day, I got up super early to go surfing with the surf shop staff. I'm glad I did, because the sun wasn't too strong and there weren't too many people. I stayed out for 3.5 hours surfing. It was a good session. I was pretty tired when I finished, but it was all worth it. That's the perfect way to spend a weekend.
The next and last time I went surfing was on a national holiday in Japan, aptly named Sea Day (海の日). That was July 18. On this day, the waves were small but it was fun. There was no wind so it was easy to paddle out against the waves. After that session, (about 3 hours?) I took my board back to the shop and took off the fins. I brought my board back home :(
It was so sad to leave and know I won't be back for awhile and that I'm going to miss my favourite season... Fall. At least I had a few good rides in the end. Hopefully I'll be back out quickly.
