Well, I finally found a proper beach in Kansai. It's in Kobe in Osaka Bay and it's called Suma Beach, which sounds like the California beach Zuma, but actually isn't anything like a California beach. It's more like Miami Beach. That is, super cheesy.
I had gone to Kobe to see an exhibition at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art and decided afterwards to go a little further down the line to check out the beach. The blazing heat of summer in Kyoto always leaves me longing for the ocean.
Suma Beach is just steps from the train station. In the summer months dozens of large beach huts are erected along the 1.5km walking path, which are basically beachside izakaya with showers and changing rooms for beachgoers.
It was late afternoon when I arrived. The beach and the bars were full but not thronged. There were two things I noticed immediately. One: there didn't seem to be anyone over 25 or under 15. Two: this was the most Japanese skin I had ever seen. Lithe, tan bodies in bikinis and trunks. In Santa Monica, Newport or Malibu this is completely normal. In Japan - extremely rare. I suddenly felt like I wasn't in Japan anymore, like I was on the set of an American "reality" show - Jersey Shore Goes to Japan. There was a clash of really loud, really bad music coming from every beach hut. There were girls with too much make-up and too much jewellery for the beach, wearing high heels, carrying purses. Endless selfies. There were tattoos and muscles. And even an old guy wearing a neon pink banana hammock. Everybody seemed to know everybody. It was a scene. Where am I?!
But as I sat there drinking my beer feeling totally out of place, I actually grew happy. I was watching Japanese kids act like kids everywhere, in the States, in Europe… There was a sexual energy I've never witnessed here before, girls flirting, guys acting cool. Young people in Japan have, in recent years, developed a reputation for being completely uninterested in sex and relationships. It is something of a national crisis, and gets a lot of space in the news. This little strip of beachside bars seemed to be sending a different message: "the kids are all right."
Suma Beach was about 5 degrees cooler than Kyoto. The ocean water was refreshing and a gentle breeze kept the warm air moving. Still, I don't think I'll be going back. Not in summer anyway. I'm too old for that scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment