Last Beach Trip For the Summer! 2023

Location: Ibaraki Prefecture Japan, Owarai Beach / Sunset Beach

If it weren’t for my kids, I don’t think I would have gone to so many places this summer. We went to the pool 4 times, the river once, the beach twice, at least 5 different summer festivals, parks, malls and more. This is the last weekend before they head back to school. But actually they have been going to daycare at school for most of the summer. I would have liked to take a few days for myself to organize things but the kids enjoyment and experiences come first at this point. As my wife always reminds me: “Soon they won’t want to hangout with us, enjoy it while it lasts.”

The last weekend of the summer

On Friday the 25th of August, I had planned to stay home and organize a few things, but then a friend messaged me on Thursday saying: “we should go to the beach tomorrow, it’s the last weekend before the kids summer holidays end.”

Hmmm, what a kind dad he is, sometimes I wish I could be more like him….well I said yes as I felt a little guilty leaving the twins in school while I’m home. But I couldn’t manage to bring the youngest so he attended nursery school while my wife worked. It was a boys day trip to the beach followed by the aquarium. It was 5 of us, my twins, my friend and his kid and me.

We set out around 7:30 AM and arrived at the beach around 10:30. To our surprise, the beach was empty. Parking was also free, a week ago it was ¥1,000 ( $7 ). There were no lifeguards on duty which meant the swimming season was officially over, swim at your own risk.

Below are some of the photos I snapped while we were at the beach. I added a little commentary under some of the pictures for context. And because I know most people don’t like reading, I’ve kept it short. After all, it’s all about the photography right? Enjoy, tell me which pic you liked the best in the comments below.

The oldest of the twins, Yumar and their friend Ryo in the background and upfront in the next pic.

My friend and neighbor looking out at the kids. Hurry up and get your ass in the water bro, I’m taking pics. 😂 .

The boys sitting in a row looking out at a ship passing by. Almost missed this shot but a French lady we met at the beach quickly brought the scene to my attention.

Kamar enjoying the vibes, Ryo whining to his dad in the background.

young love

Before heading to the beach we stopped at a supermarket to buy a few things. On my way out I noticed these 2 girls in uniform and thought they were cute. Interestingly, I saw them at the beach with what appeared to be their boyfriends. Super cute and romantic. They are living their best life.

SARA

When we arrived at the beach I noticed a woman of color or Empress as I like to say, swimming in the sea. Now, there is a certain stereotype of colored women in Japan from a black man’s perspective and that perspective is, if they don’t know you, they care not for conversation, some won’t even say hello 👋 if you do. It has happened to me and others I know on countless occasions. It is what it is and I’ll leave it at that.

But Sara actually came and said hello to me and I really appreciate that. She was on the beach with her friend from China and they are both students at a nearby university. We talked for a bit about life in Japan and what she intended to do in the future. She ended up playing with the kids in the sea 🌊 as she loves children. And I could genuinely feel and see that as my twins aren’t really open to play with strangers, especially older women, but they loved her company.

Laos Girlz

Alright, these shots were kind of a convenient snap. While taking pics of my kids and talking to Sara, two ladies from Laos asked my friend to take a picture of them with their phone. So I just decide to grab some shots for myself. I should have talked to them but I was pretty much engaged.

Any One Piece fans out there? Was surprised to see this on the ship. To those not in the know, they might actually think this is a pirates ship.

A view further down the beach, as you can see, not too many people.The picture directly above is an edited version.

A lot of fighter jets were flying through the sky that day. I think a drill was going on, or perhaps they were intercepting aliens.

This appears to be some sort of radar tower. I could be wrong though.

Kamar with the Ninja pose.

Yumar fussing that he got his sandals sandy. One day he will realize that is why they are called...sandals

Un-edited

Edited

The boys had a lot of fun. The water was also very warm and shallow with medium waves.

Almost time to go, gotta stay hydrated as the heat was on.

Local J Girlz

I was observing these two young ladies on the beach and taking snaps of them from a distance. When it was time to go, we happened to cross paths so I asked if I could take a picture of them….. officially. They insisted we take it together. Not the best idea, I handed the camera to my friend and he accidentally took a video instead, it was hilarious.

One of the many shots my friend took after the video. This picture reminded me how overweight I am and how I need to step things up a bit. I go to the gym twice a week but I guess I could lay off a lot of junk food, especially the sweet kind. I will do my best.

The girls were cute and friendly and the one with the lighter hair actually tried her best to speak English but then realized I could speak Japanese and blasted me for not doing so earlier 😂. The girls were from the area, I could tell as they didn't swim and that meant they were used to having the beach nearby. After an interesting encounter, we said our goodbyes and were on our way.

Late Lunch & Sunset

After the beach went to an aquarium but I will save those photos for another day. After that we grabbed a late lunch at seven eleven and found a little harbor to watch the sunset while we ate. Interestingly, these photos were taken with my iPhone 8 plus, but they turned out pretty well because of the lighting.The other photos in this post were taken with my Canon M50.