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貝)

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 2022

 

Date		Sandbar Appearance Time	Length of Time
June 1	Wed	11:55 ~ 16:30	4h35m
June 2	Thu	12:30 ~ 17:05	4h35m
June 3	Fri	13:15 ~ 17:30	4h15m
June 4	Sat	14:00 ~ 18:00	4h
June 5	Sun	14:55 ~ 18:25	3h30m
June 6	Mon	16:05 ~ 18:50	2h45m
June 7	Tue	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear 。	×
June 8	Wed
June 9	Thu
June 10	Fri	9:15 ~ 10:35	1h20m
June 11	Sat	9:10 ~ 12:10	3h
June 12	Sun	9:25 ~ 13:25	4h
June 13	Mon	9:50 ~ 14:30	4h40m
June 14	Tue	10:25 ~ 15:25	5h
June 15	Wed	11:05 ~ 16:20	5h15m
June 16	Thu	11:55 ~ 17:10	5h15m
June 17	Fri	12:50 ~ 17:55	5h5m
June 18	Sat	13:50 ~ 18:35	4h45m
June 19	Sun	15:05 ~ 19:05	4h
June 20	Mon	16:30 ~ 19:20	2h50m
June 21	Tue	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear	×
June 22	Wed
June 23	Thu
June 24	Fri	9:15 ~ 11:05	1h50m
June 25	Sat	9:30 ~ 12:20	2h50m
June 26	Sun	9:50 ~ 13:20	3h30m
June 27	Mon	10:15 ~ 14:10	3h55m
June 28	Tue	10:45 ~ 14:55	4h10m
June 29	Wed	11:15 ~ 15:35	4h20m
June 30	Thu	11:55 ~ 16:10	4h15m

 

JULY 2022

 

Date		Sandbar Appearance Time	Length of Time
July 1	Fri	12:30 ~ 16:40	4h10m
July 2	Sat	13:10 ~ 17:10	4h
July 3	Sun	13:55 ~ 17:35	3h40m
July 4	Mon	14:45 ~ 17:55	3h10m
July 5	Tue	15:45 ~ 18:15	2h30m
July 6	Wed	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
July 7	Thu
July 8	Fri
July 9	Sat	8:15 ~ 9:50	1h35m
July 10	Sun	8:35 ~ 11:35	3h
July 11	Mon	9::00 ~ 13:05	4h5m
July 12	Tue	9:40 ~ 14:15	4h35m
July 13	Wed	10:20 ~ 15:15	4h55m
July 14	Thu	11:10 ~ 16:10	5h
July 15	Fri	12:00 ~ 16:55	4h55m
July 16	Sat	12:55 ~ 17:30	4h35m
July 17	Sun	13:55 ~ 17:55	4h
July 18	Mon	15:05 ~ 18:10	3h5m
July 19	Tue	16:25 ~ 18:10	1h45m
July 20	Wed	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
July 21	Thu
July 22	Fri
July 23	Sat
July 24	Sun	9:30 ~ 11:25	1h55m
July 25	Mon	9:55 ~ 12:35	2h40m
July 26	The	10:20 ~ 13:35	3h15m
July 27	Wed	10:50 ~ 14:25	3h35m
July 28	Thu	11:20 ~ 15:05	3h45m
July 29	Fri	11:50 ~ 15:40	3h50m
July 30	Sat	12:30 ~ 16:10	3h40m
July 31	Sun	13:05 ~ 16:35	3h30m

 

 

Map (Chirin-ga Shima)

（From Chiringa-shima）

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category : Information , Sighthtseeing Info , text @en

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