Kumihama Bay

What it is

• A brackish lagoon in Kyotango City protected as part of San'in Kaigan National Park.
• A designated Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Landscape fed by three different rivers.
• A major center for local oyster farming since the industry began in 1960.
• A coastal area separated from the Sea of Japan by a natural sandbar.

What to see

• The Shotenkyo sandbar which creates a barrier against the open sea.
• A thirty-meter wide canal that connects the lagoon to the ocean.
• Mount Kabuto and Mount Nyojigadake rising directly from the bay shores.
• A six-kilometer long sandy beach suitable for swimming and recreation.
• Numerous hot spring resorts located around the perimeter of the water.
• Migrating whooper swans that arrive from Siberia during the colder months.

When to go

• Winter months to observe the whooper swans migrating from Siberia.
• Summer season to utilize the six-kilometer long sandy swimming beach.

Notes written by Japan Gems from facts in Japanese Wikipedia.