Location: Ibaraki Prefecture Japan, Owarai Beach / Sunset Beach
If it weren’t for my kids, I don’t think I would have gone to so many places this summer. We went to the pool 4 times, the river once, the beach twice, at least 5 different summer festivals, parks, malls and more. This is the last weekend before they head back to school. But actually they have been going to daycare at school for most of the summer. I would have liked to take a few days for myself to organize things but the kids enjoyment and experiences come first at this point. As my wife always reminds me: “Soon they won’t want to hangout with us, enjoy it while it lasts.”
The last weekend of the summer
On Friday the 25th of August, I had planned to stay home and organize a few things, but then a friend messaged me on Thursday saying: “we should go to the beach tomorrow, it’s the last weekend before the kids summer holidays end.”
Hmmm, what a kind dad he is, sometimes I wish I could be more like him….well I said yes as I felt a little guilty leaving the twins in school while I’m home. But I couldn’t manage to bring the youngest so he attended nursery school while my wife worked. It was a boys day trip to the beach followed by the aquarium. It was 5 of us, my twins, my friend and his kid and me.
We set out around 7:30 AM and arrived at the beach around 10:30. To our surprise, the beach was empty. Parking was also free, a week ago it was ¥1,000 ( $7 ). There were no lifeguards on duty which meant the swimming season was officially over, swim at your own risk.
Below are some of the photos I snapped while we were at the beach. I added a little commentary under some of the pictures for context. And because I know most people don’t like reading, I’ve kept it short. After all, it’s all about the photography right? Enjoy, tell me which pic you liked the best in the comments below.
Before heading to the beach we stopped at a supermarket to buy a few things. On my way out I noticed these 2 girls in uniform and thought they were cute. Interestingly, I saw them at the beach with what appeared to be their boyfriends. Super cute and romantic. They are living their best life. When we arrived at the beach I noticed a woman of color or Empress as I like to say, swimming in the sea. Now, there is a certain stereotype of colored women in Japan from a black man’s perspective and that perspective is, if they don’t know you, they care not for conversation, some won’t even say hello 👋 if you do. It has happened to me and others I know on countless occasions. It is what it is and I’ll leave it at that. But Sara actually came and said hello to me and I really appreciate that. She was on the beach with her friend from China and they are both students at a nearby university. We talked for a bit about life in Japan and what she intended to do in the future. She ended up playing with the kids in the sea 🌊 as she loves children. And I could genuinely feel and see that as my twins aren’t really open to play with strangers, especially older women, but they loved her company. Alright, these shots were kind of a convenient snap. While taking pics of my kids and talking to Sara, two ladies from Laos asked my friend to take a picture of them with their phone. So I just decide to grab some shots for myself. I should have talked to them but I was pretty much engaged. I was observing these two young ladies on the beach and taking snaps of them from a distance. When it was time to go, we happened to cross paths so I asked if I could take a picture of them….. officially. They insisted we take it together. Not the best idea, I handed the camera to my friend and he accidentally took a video instead, it was hilarious. After the beach went to an aquarium but I will save those photos for another day. After that we grabbed a late lunch at seven eleven and found a little harbor to watch the sunset while we ate. Interestingly, these photos were taken with my iPhone 8 plus, but they turned out pretty well because of the lighting.The other photos in this post were taken with my Canon M50.
It was a great day out with the boys and I am glad we went. I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. Until next time. Bless Up!
