Kujūkuri Beach

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Kujukuri Beach on a late summer afternoon

Kujūkuri Beach (九十九里浜, -hama^?) is a sandy beach located on the east coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Lying within 60 km of Tokyo and being the second longest beach in Japan, it is a popular swimming and surfing destination of the Greater Tokyo inhabitants.

1 Etymology
2 Geography and history
3 Municipalities along the beach
4 External links

[edit] Etymology

The present name is literally "ninety nine ri (sandy) beach". Minamoto no Yoritomo was thought to order the measurement of the beach, and 99 arrows were stuck on the sand at every ri. The unit "ri" was then 6 chō (ca. 660 m) suppposedly, but later the ri extended somehow to 36 chō (ca. 3.9 km). The short ri of 6 chō has long been forgotten or not in use, thus today many believe and explain incorrectly that 99 is just an inference of its long distance.

The actual length of the beach in kilometers is around 66, thus the figure of Yoritomo was correct.

[edit] Geography and history

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The coastal region of the beach is the north-eastern end of Kuroshio Current influence in Japan. On the contrary, a northern species chum salmon returns to a river of the beach every year, the southernmost in Japan.

The last days of the World War II, Operation Coronet was planned, to land on the beach for Tokyo.

According to a programme of NHK, Kujūkuri is the best place in Japan to observe the sanderling. These tiny birds can be seen on most spring and autumn days following the ebb and flow of the waves at amazing speeds in search of food.