JAKARTA - The number of official beaches for swimming in Japan has dropped by about 30 percent in the last three decades. Fewer visitors, declining profits for managers, lifeguards are difficult to find, while in some coastal areas the coastline continues to shrink.
Kyodo News quoted Monday, July 20, saying data from the Japan Travel and Tourism Association showed the number of official beaches reached 1,379 in 1993. The number remained in the 1,300s until the early 2000s before continuing to decline.
The number fell below 1,000 for the first time in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, only 969 official beaches were open during the summer.
The extremely hot summer in recent years has made some residents choose not to go to the beach. They want to avoid sunburn and heatstroke.
The increasing variety of indoor recreation options also reduces the number of visitors. For managers, a deserted beach makes it more difficult to make a profit.
Japanese rules require local governments and management associations to apply for permits each year to the prefectural government before opening official beaches for swimming.
The association's data was collected from prefectural and municipal governments. However, the agency did not analyze the cause of the decline. Kyodo News then traced the cause through interviews with a number of local governments.
In addition to the reduced number of visitors, the local government cited a lack of coast guards and low profits as the main obstacles.
In Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo, the association that bears part of the operating costs of Miura Kaigan Beach is in financial difficulties. The beach will not be opened in 2024.
Hakotsukuri Beach in Osaka Prefecture also did not operate in the same year.
In some areas, the decline in the number of beaches is also influenced by the retreat of the coastline. One of them occurred at Otake Kaigan Hokota Beach, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
The supply of sand from rivers to the coast has decreased due to the extraction of sand for construction needs since Japan's high economic growth in the mid-1950s to early 1970s.
Wave breaker development also changes the ocean currents and affects the shape of the coastline.
The local government asks residents not to swim at beaches that are not officially designated. These areas do not have lifeguards or supervisory officers who are ready to handle emergencies.
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