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

 

September 2022

 

Date		Sandbar Appearance Time	Length of Time
Sep.1	Thu	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Sep.2	Fri
Sep.3	Sat
Sep.4	Sun
Sep.5	Mon
Sep.6	Tue	8;35 ~ 10;40	2h5m
Sep.7	Wed	9:15 ~ 12:20	3h5m
Sep.8	Thu	9:55 ~ 13:30	3h35m
Sep.9	Fri	10:40 ~ 14:20	3h40m
Sep.10	Sat	11:25 ~ 15:00	3h35m
Sep.11	Sun	12:15 ~ 15:30	3h15m
Sep.12	Mon	13:05 ~ 15:45	2h40m
Sep.13	Tue	14:05 ~ 15:50	1h45m
Sep.14	Wed	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Sep.15	Thu
Sep.16	Fri
Sep.17	Sat
Sep.18	Sun
Sep.19	Mon
Sep.20	Tue
Sep.21	Wed
Sep.22	Thu	10:20 ~ 12:05	1h45m
Sep.23	Fri	10:40 ~ 13:00	2h20m
Sep.24	Sat	11;05 ~ 13:45	2h40m
Sep.25	Sun	11:35 ~ 14:15	2h40m
Sep.26	Mon	12:10 ~ 14:45	2h35m
Sep.27	Tue	12:55 ~ 15:05	2h10m
Sep.28	Wed	13:45 ~ 15:20	1h35m
Sep.29	Thu	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Sep.30	Fri

 

 

October 2022

 

Date		Sandbar Appearance Time	Length of Time
Oct.1	Sat	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Oct.2	Sun
Oct.3	Mon
Oct.4	Tue
Oct.5	Wed	8:30 ~ 10:25	1h55m
Oct.6	Thu	9:15 ~ 11:55	2h40m
Oct.7	Fri	10:00 ~ 12:55	2h55m
Oct.8	Sat	10:45 ~ 13:40	2h55m
Oct.9	Sun	11:30 ~ 14:10	2h40m
Oct.10	Mon	12:20 ~ 14:30	2h10m
Oct.11	Tue	13:10 ~ 14:40	1h30m
Oct.12	Wed	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Oct.13	Thu
Oct.14	Fri
Oct.15	Sat
Oct.16	Sun
Oct.17	Mon
Oct.18	Tue
Oct.19	Wed
Oct.20	Thu
Oct.21	Fri	9:55 ~ 11:10	1h15m
Oct.22	Sat	10:20 ~ 12:10	1h50m
Oct.23	Sun	10:45 ~ 12:55	2h0m
Oct.24	Mon	11:20 ~ 13:30	2h10m
Oct.25	Tue	12:05 ~ 13:55	1h50m
Oct.26	Wed	12:50 ~ 14:20	1h30m
Oct.27	Thu	*The tidal range is small, so the sandbar does not appear.	×
Oct.28	Fri
Oct.29	Sat
Oct.30	Sun
Oct.31	Mon

 

Map (Chirin-ga Shima)

（From Chiringa-shima）

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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