Around The World In 80 Waves

It is time for me to move on already and I will miss Japan, which incidentally has the largest market for surf merchandise in the world. Some Japanese surfers are passionate enough to get surf themed tattoos such as the one you see here, and you can see the enthusiasm for surfing at every coastal town.

They love it and it is a shame that some of the country’s best breaks in Fukushima prefecture have been tarnished, to say the least, by the damage done to the nuclear reactors initially caused by the 2011 tsunami. I hope they can at least make the situation safe there soon. However on returning to the airport which is between Tokyo and Fukushima I saw plenty of surfboards heading out to the Chiba peninsular in search of waves just down the coast from the power plants so the local surfers don’t appear to be too bothered about it anyway.

It has been great to see so many people in the water at every beach I have visited regardless of the conditions, time of day or day of the week. I have also loved the people who have only been generous with their time and assistance for me while I have been here.

There is clearly a language barrier but giving people a shaka hand signal (as demonstrated by Barrack Obama) usually generates smiles all round.

Next up on my itinerary is the Korean peninsular.

I guess there is a small chance of me getting into a spot of bother in this geo-political hot spot.

Time will tell what mischief I will find there.