SURF’S UP, SUN’S OUT DIVE IN!
4th Year American JET Matthew Dursum is a selfconfessed サーフィン馬鹿（surf addict）who attacks the Kyushu surf scene when both the occasion and the waves arise. He says he flounders about the plaice a lot but he's just being a little koi as he's reely on his whale to being hooked like an ofishal surf pro!
GET ON BOARD!
Read on to find out more about Japan’s surfing landscape, seasonal surf-turf trends and how the ocean unfolds to offer sport and fun to those who dare brave the brine.
Matthew Dursum
22
SPORTS
Sussing out the Surf Scene It’s been almost four years since I moved to this disparate island nation. Through my father’s stories and photos of his former life in Japan I became fascinated and knew from an early age I wanted to live here. Along with my interest in Japan I have another passion: surfing. Surfing motivated me to finally leave my home in Michigan and go out West. I studied at The University of California, Santa Barbara and it was there that I became aware of the JET program and was able to fulfill my lifelong wish to live in Japan. When I moved to Japan from California in the summer of 2009 I was not so well-informed about the quality of surf here. Upon arriving in my seaside town during the start of typhoon season my daydreams were somewhat fractured, though only momentarily as by gaining fluency in Japanese and being social and curious I became informed about the many surf points just within an hour from my house. I was pleased to learn Japan has every type of wave imaginable and during the right swell and wind conditions waves here can do great impersonations of Hawaii or Indonesia. I’ve surfed all over North America, Central America, the Philippines and Indonesia and Japan holds its ground.
Marvelous Natural MakeUp The geological makeup of the Japanese archipelago, as a result of hundreds of millions of years of plate tectonics,
makes Japan a great surfing destination. Sitting on the western boundary of the Pacific ring of fire, the volcanic history is shown in the rugged coastline. Surf spots are countless due to complex topography and bathymetry. Bays, inlets, river mouths, beaches and offshore reefs diversify the type of waves available. Shallow reefs, crowded beaches, and rocky point breaks can be found everywhere; you just need to know where and when. Japan is surrounded by the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. While every ocean coastline in Japan gets surf, the quality and consistency varies. This largely has to do with the area over which wind has blown, called fetch, as well as wind speed, time duration of wind, the distance from the storm center to the coast and the localized wind patterns. All these factors make surf forecasting difficult and imprecise. I’ve gone to the beach after reading a forecast predicting flat conditions only to see perfect glassy peaks roaring in front of me. But more often than not it is the opposite scenario.
Favorite Beaches/Surf Spots Water quality and sea life varies regionally. In coastal urban areas, pollution can greatly impact water quality whereas around rural areas and small islands the ocean is clear and full of life. The southern islands south of Kyushu host some of the world’s most beautiful coral reefs. These reefs also create shallow barreling waves - not for the faint hearted! Here are some top places I recommend you bring your board: Kagoshima Prefecture, Tanegashima Island (whole island) (beginner-advanced) Kagoshima Prefecture, Amami Island (whole island) (beginner-advanced) Miyazaki Prefecture, Nichinan (beginnerintermediate) Kagoshima Prefecture, Ei Town (beginner)