Walk Across The Sea to Chiringa-shima

Click HERE for information about the sandbar appearance times ( June & July 2023)

(important: the sandbar linking the island to the mainland is only exposed at certain low tides, and then only for a limited time.
Do not try to cross outside of these times).

 

Chiringa-shima (知林ヶ島)

 

Chiringa-sima is an uninhabited island just inside the entrance to Kinko bay near National Park Resort IBUSUKI (Kyuka-mura IBUSUKI / 休暇村指宿).

 

An 800m long sandbar appears at low tide during the flood tide or the middle tide from March to October.

 

The sandbar appears as a little winding path in the sea, and you can cross to the island along this path.
It gives you a special feeling to walk across the sandbar from the Ibusuki side to the island. It takes about 20 minutes to the island. The longest time the sandbar appears is for five hours.

 

 

Matchmaking Island

The island is known as a matchmaking island. This place was used as a shooting location for a TV drama, and many couples visit the island.
There are several things for these people there.

 

♡ Chirin’s Heart

Two different sized objects are placed on the Ibusuki shore. Depending on the angle to see these objects, they look heart-shaped. It is a good place to take some pictures against the background of Chiringa-shima.

 

Chi-kai (Chi)

Tie a shell on which you write your wish on a chain on the “Chikai-no Oka (誓貝の丘) at the entrance of the sandbar.
Shells (200 yen each) are sold at Ibusuki City Tourist Information Center at JR Ibusuki Station and National Park Resort IBUSUKI (Kyuka-mura IBUSUKI / 休暇村指宿).

 

he shells which are tied on the chain will be dedicated to Ryugu Shrine (龍宮神社) in Ibusuki after a while.

 

Chirin’s BELL

Chirin’s BELL is located on the hill of Chirin-ga Shima. It is said if you ring the bell praying for happiness, your wish will be fulfilled. The view from this place is great, too.

 

 

Walking Across The Sea

Waking across the sea is really exciting experience.
But, it is still the sea, so you need to be careful. If anything happened, a fun day could be turned into a terrible day.

 

Please do not try to walk across to the island in bad weather.

 

The path disappears very quickly once the tide starts to come in, so check the appearance time of the path and give yourself plenty of time to across back.

 

The tide current is very fast around the sandbar, so if the sandbar isn’t visible, please do not walk across.

 

Some blue-ringed octopuses (Hyomon-dako / ヒョウモンダコ) have been seen on the shores of Ibusuki city. They are about 5cm~10cm long and they have brown patches like Panthers’. When they are agitated, iridescent blue rings or clumps of rings appear.
If you are bitten by one of them, you might not feel it directly; however, it injects a venom powerful enough to kill a human. The venom causes respiratory arrest.

Do not touch them. They live in shallow water and coastal rocks.

Sandbar Appearance Time (predicted) And The Amount of Time Visible

 

 

June 2023

 

Date

Sandbar Appearance Time

Length of Time

 Jun.1

Thu

9:45 AM ~ 12:55 PM

3h10m

Jun.2

Fri

9:55 AM ~ 1:55 PM

4h

Jun.3

Sat

10:15 AM ~ 2:50 PM

4h35m

Jun.4

Sun

10:45 AM ~ 3:40 PM

4h55m

Jun.5

Mon

11:20 AM ~ 4:30 PM

5h10m

Jun.6

Tue

12:05 PM ~ 5:20 PM

5h15m

Jun.7

Wed

1:00 PM ~ 6:05 PM

5h5m

Jun.8

Thu

2:00 PM ~ 6:45 PM

4h45m

Jun.9

Fri

3:10 PM ~ 7:20 PM

4h10m

Jun.10

Sat

*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.

×

Jun.11

Sun

Jun.12

Mon

Jun.13

Tue

8:50 AM ~ 10:30 AM

1h40m

Jun.14

Wed

9:05 AM ~ 12:00 PM

2h55m

Jun.15

Thu

9:25 AM ~ 1:10 PM

3h45m

Jun.16

Fri

9:55 AM ~ 2:05 PM

4h10m

Jun.17

Sat

10:25 AM ~ 2:50 PM

4h25m

Jun.18

Sun

11:00 AM ~ 3:35 PM

4h35m

Jun.19

Mon

11:40 AM ~ 4:10 PM

4h30m

Jun.20

Tue

12:20 PM ~ 4:40 PM

4h20m

Jun.21

Wed

1:00 PM ~ 5:10 PM

4h10m

Jun.22

Thu

1:45 PM ~ 5:35 PM

3h50m

Jun.23

Fri

2:40 PM ~ 6:00 PM

3h20m

Jun.24

Sat

3:40 PM ~ 6:15 PM

2h35m

Jun.25

Sun

5:00 PM ~ 6:20 PM

1h20m

Jun.26

Mon

*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.

×

Jun.27

Tue

Jun.28

Wed

Jun.29

Thu

9:00 AM ~ 10:45 AM

1h45m

Jun.30

Fri

9:05 AM ~ 12:15 PM

3h10m

 

 

July 2023

 

 

Date

Sandbar Appearance Time

Length of Time

Jul.1

Sat

9:25 AM ~ 1:30 PM

4h5m

Jul.2

Sun

9:55 AM ~ 2:30 PM

4h35m

Jul.3

Mon

10:35 AM ~ 3:30 PM

4h55m

Jul.4

Tue

11:20 AM ~ 4:20 PM

5h

Jul.5

Wed

12:10 PM ~ 5:10 PM

5h

Jul.6

Thu

1:05 PM ~ 5:45 PM

4h40m

Jul.7

Fri

2:05 PM ~ 6:15 PM

4h10m

Jul.8

Sat

3:15 PM ~ 6:35 PM

3h20m

Jul.9

Sun

4:45 PM ~ 6:40 PM

1h55m

Jul.10

Mon

*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.

×

Jul.11

Tue

Jul.12

Wed

8:20 AM ~ 9:45 AM

1h25m

Jul.13

Thu

8:55 AM ~ 11:20 AM

2h25m

Jul.14

Fri

9:25 AM ~ 12:35 PM

3h10m

Jul.15

Sat

10:00 AM ~ 1:30 PM

3h30m

Jul.16

Sun

10:30 AM ~ 2:20 PM

3h50m

Jul.17

Mon

11:05 AM ~ 3:05 PM

4h

Jul.18

Tue

11:40 AM ~ 3:40 PM

4h

Jul.19

Wed

12:20 PM ~ 4:10 PM

3h50m

Jul.20

Thu

1;00 PM ~ 4:40 PM

3h40m

Jul.21

Fri

1:45 PM ~ 5:00 PM

3h15m

Jul.22

Sat

2:30 PM ~ 5:15 PM

2h45m

Jul.23

Sun

3:25 PM ~ 5:20 PM

1h55m

Jul.24

Mon

*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.

×

Jul.25

Tue

Jul.26

Wed

Jul.27

Thu

Jul.28

Fri

8:25 AM ~ 9:40 AM

1h15m

Jul.29

Sat

8:50 AM ~ 11:35 AM

2h45m

Jul.30

Sun

9:20 AM ~ 1:05 PM

3h45m

Jul.31

Mon

9:55 AM ~ 2:15 PM

4h20m

 

 
Map (Chirin-ga Shima)
 


 

(From Chiringa-shima)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category : Information , Sighthtseeing Info , text @en

Tag : 24 divisions of the solar year , 24sekki , corona virus , COVID-19 , COVID19 , Emergency , Japanese culture , season , tanabata , The coronavirus , 日本の文化

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