Day 23 | Spending a day at Shirahama White Beach, fireworks and karaoke

こんにちは. I would love share with you my trip to Shirahama town where we stayed over night at a pretty good hotel, had tons of fun and swam at the famous Shrirahama White Beach where we enjoyed the fireworks later in the evening and closed the day with the 2 hours long karaoke show in a hotel hall. I also saw some familiar faces after a week of being out of Gobo.

This all happened on the Day 23 and my 6th day of being spending my time with the youth camp from Osaka. Three more left before going back to Gobo and then Zagreb but let us see what happened here and why you should visit Shirahama.

Leaving the hotel from Hojo-in

Those who wanted got up before 6 a. m. in order to experience the ascetic practice of the temple which lasted for almost an hour. The rest of us including me was sleeping until 7. Breakfast at 7. 30 and at an hour later we were on the bus to Shirahama.

I commented in the last post about the hotel night before the yard but did not post you much to see. I enjoyed the view from the windows in the main hallways as you could see the forest and the roofs of our building. And now see more details in the yard and the garden inside. When going down the wooden stairs to the first floor you can find there a pretty long room with about 8-10 sinks where we went to brush the teeth.

I left my towel in the big hall in the basement and luckily did not forget on it. The things were packed, bags ready... and just waiting to go. We gathered all at the entrance, thanked our hosts for the dinner, breakfast and the care in general. The shoes were in the wooden racks but remained dry during the night.

It took us about two and half hours until we reached Shirahama. The name sounded very familiar to me and I was sure I had been to a place called like that. I realised once I came back to Gobo and Zagreb that there were Shirahama Rock formations and cliffs I visited with my host family and the Shirahama town with this beach. The places were about 3 kilometres away which is literally nothing. But when you are there and not knowing your location on the map it could have been hours away.

The hotel Shirahama Seaside Hotel

Upon entering town one cannot notice some particular change as it was not that big and until coastline everything looked pretty much the same as in other places. Actually, the town happens to be smaller even from Gobo when looking at the population which counts about 23 000 citizens.

A few more words about this place would include that the name means "white beach" which makes less sense when saying "Shirahama White Beach" referring to the... white beach. And the town and the area are well-known because of this white sand beach. One even more interesting thing is that this white sand has been imported from... Australia! The other attraction that drags tourists to this place are the mentioned rocks, cliffs and caves where the ancient pirates were hiding.

We entered some bay and stopped in front of a big hotel, at least when looking at how many floors it had. It was actually on the other side of this peninsula but just a bit more than a kilometre from the White Beach. Though we did not know it back then you have a view towards the town of Tanabe over the bay to the north. As you can see on the map there are lots of small and big bays in the area which looks pretty much magical and more "natural" since there are not too many people and artificial lights.

Once you get into the hotel you will find yourself in a pretty big lobby which looks somewhat old-fashioned with colourful carpets. To the left of the entrance was the part to hang out serving also as a wi-fi zone (but without wi-fi for my smartphone apparently). To the right are also a few sofas and chairs to relax. And speaking of that, guess whom I had met! Mr Ishikura sitting there and chatting with one of our camp leaders! What a surprise. He later followed us to the beach and I tried talking to him without using translator. Wait for that part and back to the hotel. There was also a passage to the large dinning hall where we used to have lunch, dinner and breakfast. Furthermore we climb up a bit to the next floor (just a few stairs and they pay attention to the people with physical disabilities).

Here one can go further beyond to the baths in the basement which most of us did not use. I saw them the other morning when my friends asked me to check if some bag was left there and had to see the naked guys. Next to the passage are the stairs climbing on the second floor with the elevator, stairs and the whole floor was filled with the slot machines for the games on luck. Lastly, before the stairs was some kind of a store, another example of the stores in the hotel. Later during the evening there was a guy beneath the stairs selling toys, souvenirs and letting us play the game of picado for free.

New hotel meant new schedule of the people within the groups and I was now sharing my room with my Italian friend Biagio and someone else (shoot me but cannot remember). Our room was on the last floor which meant going to the 5th floor by using the elevator and then one more floor reached by stairs. One had to be careful with the rooms as they would lock themselves after closing. Thus we had to put a shoe between the doors and the wall and simply watch who stayed inside/outside and had the key.

The rooms were looking more traditional with a small table in the middle non of us ever used, several mattresses on the floor with plenty of blankets and comfortable pillows, a TV that was even able to rotate (this was so strange or rather very much Japanese, everything that is outstanding the standards we are used to), and a balcony with a table and two chairs. Here is what one sees from our balcony, some kind of a castle on the other side of our little bay. The wardrobe remained untouched though also contained lots of blankets. It was summer and that was more than enough. Oh, as you enter the room from the hotel's hallways then you have to leave the shoes there and climb up on the heightened floor which represents the rest of the apartment. The same day later when all of us already put shoes on but forgot something in the room we tried to walk on our knees creeping around on the floor too lazy to put the shoes off and on again.

The toilets were pretty good. They were together within bathrooms. There was one more small room between entering bathroom with a mirror and nothing else. Thus you have to wait for someone if they decided to take a shower or had to go to pee.

We were exploring the rooms of the others and checking who were our neighbours. I was also surprised when I looked down the window into the yard. There was practically nothing except for a vending machine in the corner close to the garbage. Had I not known from above that it existed I would have definitely missed it and never go there.

Lunch time

We had about an hour for the lunch before we went swimming to the beach. We gathered up in the lobby and went together to occupy the hall. The food here was not to complain about. We had a diverse number of offers at the buffet including ice cream and drinks. The food was served hot and fresh which in combination with the sauce was just too difficult to resist. I grabbed more than I could eat but managed to leave the plate empty. Again plenty of sushi, maguro, wasabi, salad, fried chicken and fried crabs, wine, juice... Oishii ne! Subarashii. That is what I told the cook.

Now, let's go to the beach!

Shirahama White Beach

We changed our clothes in the rooms and put on the swimming underwear. I forgot to put the sunscreen on as I automatically thought nothing bad could happen during a cloudy day. Two hours later I looked like a tomato.

The bus was waiting for us outside. I just took my towel and shirt with me. It took us about 5 minutes to get out of the bus again. We stopped two streets away and within few minutes of walking reached our destination.

The overall impression would have been much better if we had some more sunlight. Still though it looked like something from the Mediterranean countries, from my experience from Spain and Catalonia where the beaches are mostly covered with the artificial beach sand. The beach was about 700 meters long and also pretty broad when looking how much you have to walk from the pedestrian road till entering the sea. I would say around 50-60 meters. There were some people having fun at the beach already.

To our right was forest around the cliffs upon the car road. Far to the left and south-west was the end of the bay and the forest that divided us from the Shirahama Sandanbeki rock formations.

We had a deal that after an hour or so was the time for the game and eat the fruits. The camp leaders brought a large box with several melons we "destroyed" within minutes. I was especially hungry after swimming.

Yeah, let's finally jump into the water. I was running towards the sea, quickly put water on myself to try to reduce the body temperature a bit closer to the one of the sea not to experience shock and dove under the surface. That is this beautiful feeling when the sea (the ocean) is warm and refreshing you while you diving out. The water there was indeed very good and it was a pleasure to go around. We went in groups to swim here and there and then tried to play the games with the balls. I found the best to lay down on the shore and wait for the waves. I might have spent about 45 minutes there (and thus got sunburnt). The waves here were pretty fun and came quiet often. You just wait to see one getting bigger and bigger and then go over you. Still the best feeling. Though you are not going to like the thing that the sand also got into your buttocks and the underwear...

While doing a break at our camp some guys played football or volleyball and some were eating everything they had seen. I was in the second group as without the glasses I felt a bit useless in sports now. I also noticed Mr Ishikura back there. While I was trying to eat the whole slice of melon within 5 seconds he was just having a reaction like "oh my, what is he doing now? " but was laughing.

Then we played a game "crushing watermelon" where one person stood a few meters away from the watermelon with their eyes covered and a stick in the hand. You all know this game and how much fun it is to watch the others try to hit the target. After several candidates we finally got the winner.

I went to swim a bit more and that was also my first time in July to jump into the sea that summer... also my first time to swim in the Ocean (technically).

We spent three hours at the beach before going back to the hotel. I felt really tired afterwards but felt great, especially for my poor skin which needed the healthy touch of the sea.

Dinner and preparing for the Fireworks

Within 10 minutes back at the hotel. But before we were allowed to enter it we were kindly asked to wash our feet. Next to the entrance was a pipe with the fresh water so we stood in the line, took off our sandals and washed the sand away. This is where I lost my case for glasses... somewhere and somehow between the bus and the pipe, could not find them either in the bus nor on the floor around. I used the opportunity to in the bus to talk with Rena who sat next to me still not knowing that we were going to see each even after the camp!

We had some time to take a shower, change the clothes and then the dinner at 6 p. m. Similar to lunch, no more words to describe the joy.

We had about 20-30 more minutes before going for the fireworks and spent it mostly at the lobby. My amigo from Mexico and I tried to catch the wi-fi but instead just lost the nerves. Time to go into the bus!

The Fireworks and message from Gobo

Most of the campers already got their nice clothes out on themselves whereas I just changed my shirt from the beach not knowing what was the next thing on the programme. And I was also looking as red as shrimp and put tons of cream after the beach hoping to look less like a fried chicken.

We got to the beach and sat on the stairs made from the stones in several rows and waited for the fireworks to start. I heard that it is a tradition during the two main summer months to have the fireworks shows every night in order to keep up one of the most popular tourist resorts in this part of Japan (speaking of southern Kansai region and Wakayama-prefecture).

The spectacle started and lasted for 10-15 minutes though we stayed there until 9 p. m. There was also a loudspeaker where some guy was announcing that the fireworks was being held in honour of the Youth Camp. Despite speaking in Japanese I understood when he mentioned some names of the campers. I even heard my name 2-3 times and was confused and afraid a bit of having to do something but could not see anyone translating me or saying I have to go somewhere. Apparently, as I found out later in Gobo, the person was reading the message sent by my Lions Club Gobo sending many greetings from my first home town and wishing me a good time with the camp. I was sad not knowing that back then but really appreciate it. I even got a present from Mr Ishikura, a little wooden frame with a picture of Shirahama and a text message about my stay in Japan (and my name written as Gureko).

We got back to the hotel and went straight into the big room reserved only for us that evening. Coming up next is...

Karaoke evening

My third karaoke experience in Japan! We were placed in a big cosy room or rather a hall with many sofas, chairs, a bar and tables with already served sweets. I know I ate half of the chocolate (sorry! ) there.

We sat around 4 tables on two sides of the room and received a huge heavy book in order to find the songs we would like to sing but that existed in the system. There were two big screen in the corners showing the lyrics. In the center were two more tables with fruits and snacks and between the screen and "the stage" – there were two microphones and a box with the masks I discovered almost too late. We were also allowed to order the drink at the bar (the non-alcoholic) so I went for one "kora" later.

This lasted in the end a bit less than 2 hours, it seemed so long though. Personally I did not sing as I hate hearing my voice and would make the other cry. But joined the others as a group of 3 to 6 people as you can hide yourself.

Although not singing I started to lead the group on the dancing floor. When one of the camp counsellors started singing some Japanese song no one else knew I felt obliged to support him by jumping like crazy in the center and barefoot. Then I would come to the table stealing chocolates in front of their noses before they caught me and ate 4-5 more slices of watermelon.

In the end we all felt much tired but had lots of fun. Karaoke is always a good way for entertainment and we can thank whom else but the Japanese for its invention.

Back to sleep and plans for the other day

Jumped into our mattresses and put the alarm clock for 7 a. m. I fell asleep as soon as the lights turned off and it was pretty comfortable. Not even the sun rays disturbed me. The other day we were leaving Shirahama and had a tour in Gobo and Doujou-ji, I was in Anchin again and then towards the mountains for Inunakiyam Onsen. More of it can be found here.

Thanks for reading!

Photo credits besides me to Jesse Tucek and Miori Inoue.

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