January Beach Cleanup Day in Onjuku

We skipped the December beach cleanup because we were in the U.S., so this will be our third beach cleanup, following the October and November cleanups.

Tsunami Warning

Starting in October 2021, we have decided that the third Sunday of each month will be a beach cleanup day. And on Sunday, January 16, we were in Onjuku with that plan, but it took me a while to realize that it was a tsunami warning due to a volcanic eruption in Tonga that occurred around 1pm the previous day, when I jumped out of bed at the sound of the disaster radio and cell phone suddenly starting to ring in the middle of the night.

That’s why, on the 16th, the tsunami warning was issued all the way to the afternoon and we couldn’t get close to the beach, so the beach cleaning was also canceled.

Come Back

Instead of the 16th, we did a cleanup of Iwawada Beach on Sunday, January 30.

Perhaps because there are fewer visitors to the beach in winter, the amount of trash on the sand was smaller than in autumn. Probably because of that, cigarette litter was quite noticeable. There were far fewer fishing nets.

It was relatively beautiful, but my final disappointment was that in the parking lot along the beach, which is mainly used by surfers, there were convenience store bags left behind, probably discarded after eating lunch or something.😢

Will there be less trash in February?

Drive to Tateyama

The Minamiboso City area, which is rarely visited even on the same Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture.
This time I wanted to go to a shop called “TRAYCLE Market & Coffee” in Tateyama, so after the beach cleanup, we drove for an hour and a half one way.

This store is a select store and café that sells fair trade products, traditional crafts, and environmentally friendly products. I was interested in the appearance of the building and it was on my “To Go” list.

When we arrived, this building was inconsistent with the neighborhoods, and it gave off a exotic atmosphere only here, but at the same time as 11 o’clock of the opening, people came from nowhere and we took a break for about 20 minutes, but by the time I got home, it was crowded outside the store.

There are several kinds of muffins from okara, six sweet ones and two side dishes. The store had a relaxed atmosphere that was friendly to both the human body and the environment.

The second floor is a café space, and you can see the sea from the window about 60 centimeter wide.