Shirahama Town Cancels May 3rd Beach Opening, Citing Low Number of Pre-Season Visitors

In a decision by Shirahama Town and this Shirahama Tourism Association, the annual beach opening held traditionally on May 3rd will be moved to July from this year. Until school vacation begins, the number of beachgoers is few. One member of the Shirahama Town Tourism Division explained, "It was concluded that until the number of beachgoers increases, events we hold at the beach should ultimately be with the goal of attracting more visitors."

The May 3rd beach opening was originally implemented in 2000 as an effort to promote Shirahama with the catchphrase "The earliest beach opening in Honshu." The event itself was sponsored by the Tourism Association and Shirahama Town handled the proceedings to have the event move forward. There were times when the event overlapped with Golden Week and many visitors attended the beach opening with their families. Images of those in attendance rushing to jump into the water at the same time were broadcast on TV and featured in newspapers. The beach opening ceremony was representative of Shirahama as a tourist destination.

However, the time that visitors were spending on the beach prior to the summer season was short. 

In regard to the July beach opening the Shirahama Town Tourism Division explained, "It's a regulation of Wakayama Prefecture that lifeguards must be stationed. however, there are a lot of volunteers and it will be difficult to secure full-time staff." The event has been moved to the first day of the three-day weekend surrounding Marine Day, a national holiday held on the third Sunday of July. This year the event will take place on July 15th.

Shirahama Beach is a major beach in the Kinki region, drawing over 600,000 visitors last season. Other beaches in the town plan to open in July as they have in previous years.

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