Private diving in JP...

[Sniperx]

NOw you got me worried though.....its very probable I'll be moving to the Shizuoka area for my (future) wifes work.

I'm obviously not going to be out and out defiant and march across a "paid beach" to make trouble or prove a point. Theres tons of beautiful beach in this country. An example is this really nice beach in Kochiken on Shikoku. The only way you know its there...a bunch of local cars are parked and theres an opening in the forest. From that point its about a kilometer walk down the cliff/mountain. Along the winding path theres signs marking locals only, not a vacation point or Japan surf destination. You get to the bottom and its a beautiful secluded beach sectioned in half by a rock point. One side has some pretty good surfing, waves break nice and far and the other side is more swimming and shore friendly. Also has a nice freshwater waterfall that falls down the mountain right onto the sand. I asked my fiancee to be my girlfriend there....then promptly nearly killed her accidentally trying to get back to the car. Tide came up, tooth and nail cliffhanger style. She toughed her way through it...not a tear or anything...I knew she was a keeper right there.

Anyway...point is...theres tons of beach...unattached beach...there must be some awesome undeiscovered sites that aren't "owned" by the local fishboys.

 

[Geoff_H]

I've driven around the coastline of the Izu penisular a fair bit, I wouldn't say there are scores of obvious spots for diving that havn't already had a diveshop built on them... not too many nice sandy beaches apart from at the southern tip & Shimoda. I think the sandy beaches at Atami and maybe all of Izu are probably artifical as there isn't vast quantities of hard coral you would expect to go with fine white sand beaches and the majority of the coast is pebblely.

Estimation is there are between 40 and 50 diveshots as you navigate the coast, you generally see one every couple of kilometres. Bear in mind a lot of the better diving is accessible by boat only at a number of these sites, or you can take a 15-20 minute surface swim out and back if you're really keen.

I know a few people who claim to have witnessed or heard of police seizing scuba equipment and cars of people who poach while on scuba. How much of it is true, I don't know....

 

[Sniperx]

Got the scoop from the dive shop...

Don't blatantly take, a couple in BC pockets is fine.

Don't go in the OBVIOUS fishing town beaches.

They don't have any right to keep you from diving, but they can make trouble, physical, on land....as long as you don't take anything.

 

[Carl P]

I would love to think that there is a solution to this long running problem, and just as the Berlin wall eventually fell overnight, the same may one day happen to the fishing co-ops and their brothers in arms the whalers. At the moment however, they have all the power and foregners are not well placed to challenge it. Like minded Japanese divers are probably the best chance of making changes, but it could easily take multiple life times before any real change happens. In my search to do my own diving in Izu, I have suffered fishermen driving us on to the rocks with dangerously close propellers while watching us from the surface through a clear bottom bucket, I have had my car mysteriously scratched while out diving, and had various other unpleasent incidents. I have tried negotiating with the co-ops, with limited success, but was not really worth the effort. All that said, there are places where you can get away with it - or at least I have up to now, and they are some of the best diving spots that I have seen in Izu.
Just a foot note on what I understand the legal position to be: The co-ops do have government granted fishing rights, so taking any sea food would put you on the wrong side of the line. They do NOT have any legal right to stop people using the oceans for leasure purposes, but can usually justify it if they need to.

 

[Carl P]

Oh, and just for entertainment here is my personal link collection on Japanese Fishermen:

Harasing Divers
Dive Japan Scuba Diving :: CYBER DIVER :: Dive Travel Guide

Whaling
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japanese hunters resume whaling
Beautiful Japan 美しい日本 » Blog Archive » Campaigners close in on Japanese whaling fleet
Japan PM defends 'scientific' whaling - National - theage.com.au
Whaling crusaders to fight on - National - theage.com.au
Whaling | Salty shepherds | Economist.com
Why Japan's Whale Hunt Continues - TIME
Revenge of The Whale Hunters - TIME
tehran times : Anti-whalers vow bigger Antarctic presence next year

Dolphin Drives
EIA
Activists Worldwide Protest Japan's Dolphin Slaughter
Dolphin Care UK -
Dolphin and Small Cetacean Fisheries Endangered Species Handbook

Poaching & International Fishing Disputes
5TH LD: Russia may soon return fishermen other than captain: Japan official | Asian Political News | Find Articles at BNET.com
Russian News NEWS.rin.ru - Japanese fishermen detained by Russians
Forbidden Waters - TIME

 

[Sniperx]

Personally I don't care about the international politics here...and without insult...don't appreciate them.

I'll check out the cyber diver one in a sec though.

I come from a family of hard heads. So much so...my dad made a fire at the local beach in California for Thanksgiving, they said no open fires. Next year he came back with a cut down concrete lined 50gal drum, they said no fires on the beach. The next year he came back with a cut 50gal drum, red and orange silk, a fan mounted underneath it, and a stove heating coil on top. Police came by...didn't know what to say.

This dive shop I go to is mom and pop to the core. All the cool junk on the walls, they live up and behind the shop. Little old lady and her husband. They also handmake custom wetsuits. Very nice place. When I asked about the ruling...he knew what I was talking about. A grinned at some things and gave me some advice on safe areas to play.

Scratches on cars? Guess I'll need a junker mini-car then. Not that my offroad rig isn't scratched enough....

 

[Sniperx]

Actually even that site is full of garbage. Thanks for the attempt, but please don't turn this into some save the whales garbage. I gave the benefit of the doubt and don't appreciate that stuff. I have enough politics in my work....I don't need someone else agenda too....

 

[bill22]

We dive at Hayama on the Miura Pennisula pretty regularly. 500 yen for parking. Summer is 2000 yen! PM me if you like to join us sometime. We go as a group so we can split costs. We've dived off Ita Beach on the Izu Pennisula a couple of times. We pay 700 yen for parking. They ask for 300 yen per diver in the summer. Small change really. Technically as long as we're not taking anything with scuba (abalone, lobster, etc..) we can use the ocean. We were actually checked by local police in Hayama once when we came out after completing a night dive. I haven't personally run into any problems yet, but I've only been diving in Japan for about six months.

 

[Sniperx]

See now thats reasonable....its still piracy...but that I can somewhat live with. Its about the same parking...or maybe cheaper....if you went to a state beach in CA. Lagun Beach parking meters are 25c for 30 minutes atleast and Huntington is something like 7usd a day.

Again, I'm not really out for poaching here...just don't want to pay someone for something they don't actually own.

I do have to talk to my friend more find the scoop on pirating the waters....he has a speargun and goes lobster picking often. Not looking to stock up...just that days dinner kind of thing.

ANyway..i will DEFINATELY look you up when I get up in that area.

 

[Age]

Not everything revolves around violence, there are other ways of communicating. The picture you portray of japan is not a good one, im sure its only a very small percentage that is of the make up you describe.
question: If it is that bad why dont you move - If you truly fear for your safety what price do you put on it?

P.S. whats a "bobby"

Geoff H does not fear for his safety, none of us 'gaijin' who live here in Japan do. But if, for any reason at all, you find yourself involved in an incident that may, or may not have been your fault. beware of the authorities! Being right means very little anywhere, but especially in Japan. Actually, to be fair, in Asia in general.

P.S. This went out when the thread just started. It's still relevant, but I hope it doesn't confuse the issue.