Is there anywhere in Japan with a US Eastern Shore/boardwalk vibe?

I don’t miss much about the US after 15 years here, but I often find myself super nostalgic for the boardwalks of Ocean City, Maryland. Something about the long boardwalk lined with hotels and shops, the wide beach, the steely grey ocean with waves crashing right at the shore, the kinda gross smell, the architecture.. I don’t go home much, but whenever I do, we try to make it out there.

I’m prepared for a big fat no, but there any places that come even close to those eastern shore boardwalk vibes in Japan?

8 comments
  1. The Enoshima area (on the Odakyu and Enoshima lines) has an atmosphere in some ways reminiscent of parts of the *New Jersey* shore (though there aren’t so many hypodermic needles in the sand), though it’s a relatively small place. Many other places are similar inland insofar as they’re full of tourists and have places lined with shops selling cheap gewgaws and crowded, lively restaurants, but they’re often in the mountains.

  2. Unfortunately, big fat no, as you feared. I was at Ocean City a few weeks ago, and I’d love for anything similar here. No beaches here as good (at least on Honshu), and definitely nothing approximating the boardwalk.

    As an aside, the seafood was sooooo damn good, too.

  3. Yea there’s places in Japan that look like the Cote d’Azur, and I was appalled at the lack of interest by Japanese . Then the tsunami hit and I got it. It’s a shame. Some areas of Kyushu do a . Good job. But you won’t really find what you’re looking for

  4. There’s a beach neighborhood in Chattan, Okinawa called American Village, and it’s patterned on San Diego, if I remember correctly. California anyway. Very nice, very appealing to Western tastes. And great international restaurants too. There’s a US base very close by.

Leave a Reply
You May Also Like