Surf to hit Chiba Tuesday 7th Sept

Sept 9th Follow - up

The swell did hit on Tuesday into Shonan and at the bottom of Chiba, wind wasnt perfect but 1000's got out and enjoyed more size than has been around for most of summer - 

wish I hadn't been at the office.........

Typhoon Kompasu

Typhoon Kompasu was located about 245 miles southeast of Okinawa early Tuesday morning with winds topping out at 75-90 knots. The system has slowed down a little and was moving towards the northwest at about 7 knots early Tuesday and the typhoon is expected to gain some more strength throughout Tuesday and is modeled to put a direct hit on the Okinawa region late Tuesday and into Wednesday with maximum winds of over 100 knots around the eye. Double to triple overhead plus storm surf will be expected with storm surf possibly double those sizes. The S/SE facing breaks up along the Kagoshima region will start to pick up later Tuesday morning and into the afternoon/evening with some head high plus surf and much larger overhead SE swell will develop late Tuesday and into Wednesday and then much smaller but still ridable short period SE swell should settle in for that area for early Thursday. Not much size is expected for later in the week for Southern Japan and the East coast will continue to see very weak conditions for the entire week with a weak fetch expected towards the east but it does not appear to be a significant wave maker. 

Mera, Reef Break, Chiba, Japan, Surf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T57oUQlaAe8&feature=related

Check this video out - one of Japans very Fickle Reef Breaks, Its a Left hander that breaks over sharp reef and into a sea wall. When its big the paddle out is from inside the nearby fishing port.
Holds big surf in the 3 x overhead range.

Needs a SSW swell and north winds, only breaks a couple of times a year.

Typhoons 6 & 7, Surfing Japan summer swells coming



Monday 30th August

Typhoon # 6 is now heading directly over  Taiwan, here's hoping that the windward side of it is going to drive swell straight up towards the Chiba region. Yesterday I asked Hughy for some help and it seems to have worked as the typhoon has changed direction from yesterday mornings track - If we're even more lucky it will swing further out and track up the eastern side of the island and if it does start planning those sick day. 

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Comment:
Tyohoon #7 has just formed south of Kyushu - at this stage it looks like it will head towards Okinawa and the South China Sea so I'll start talking to Hughy again and see if he can combine it with #6 and send it out on a NE heading over the Pacific.

Remember go to your favorite breaks page to check out the Live webcam or photos we are always finding new ones.

Typhoons on the way (surf IN Japan

Typhoon # 6 has formed just south of Taiwan, it looks like it will track up the inside of the island and the swell fromit will be blocked from most of Japan - But fingers crossed - If we're lucky it will change direction and track up the eastern side of the island and if it does start planning those sick day. 

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Comment: Well the low that formed off the top of the Philippines did head north over Okinawa and up the Western side of Kyushu. They are getting decent swell now and the breaks on the Western side of the island are all well over head high. 

I was tempted to Jump in the car and take advantage of the ¥1,000 weekend toll rates to chase a surf down there over the weekend.

Instead I'm at the family home watching from afar and talking to surfers down there as they get out of the water and call to gloat. Oh well the weather pattern looks to be changing favorably and I'm hoping for some decent surf action in the near future. 

Surfinginjapan.com is a source of information for your trips to the coast - if it is not on the attached pages it will be in process, keep checking back to see new stuff being added daily. and if you have a particular question email me and I'll try and hook you up or sort you out.

Aloha

Body Surf sandy beach Chiba Japan

4th Element bodysurfing hand ski visits the Ginza Apple store

Aug 21 & 22 Saturday and Sunday at Katagai (just north of Ichinomiya) in Chiba on the pacific coast of Japan.
The Easterly swell had dropped so all of the office worker ant surfers were out of luck. Well not really the average Japanese surfer is little bigger than a feather weight boxer and can stand on a surfboard in waves even only knee height.
I stand out, not only because of my blue eyes but because I'm at least a head taller than most. Good and bad points for sure and todays bad points were surfing a short board was sure to be a game of frustration and I didn't have a long board.

Dust off the swim fins and the home made hand ski for body boarding and suddenly my perspective on the world and small wave surfing gets turned on its head, and dumped into the sand bars.
The combination generated speed to catch the waves and speed along the face of the waves, soo much fun !!!
I think I'll body surf every time the waves are small, a massive advantage over everyone in terms of catching the waves and pulling into barrels is just as much fun as on a board and the thrill of getting out of the barrels is the same.
A fantastic option to have.

Hand ski in a Japanese Surf magazine

Summer Doldrums

Every year surfers in Japan pray and hope for a early start to the typhoon season - read May - that carries through the summer months into Autumn.
This year has been bleak, very few swells and no significant typhoons - good beach BBQ and pool hang out time.
Sounds like the California coast has been the same, while NZ has been hammered by storm after storm and its been too big to surf a lot of the time.
Indo is the place to be, as always at this time of year, better go book my tickets....

wednesday August 18th 2010

Surfing In Japan

Make sure you come and visit the main site at www.surfinginjapan.com. See you there.