I was fortunate to head out of Tokyo for the day.  We ventured out into the wild countryside of Chiba prefecture.  Chiba sits just next to Tokyo and is peninsula shaped like a dog.  On one side of Chiba is Tokyo bay and the other is the Pacific Ocean.

In the summer time Chiba is one of the close getaways spots to hit the beach and enjoy the surf, sun and sand.  This year I suspect it was bit lacking.  We made it all the way to the bottom of Tateyama Beach to be greeted by no one.  Well there were a hand full of people down on the beach, but nothing like it should have been. The beach should have been swarmed with young people oiled up and playing beach volleyball.  Instead the four volleyball courts stood silently. The beach shops stood completely empty as the owner’s gaze just looked out over the deserted beach.

My friend and I suspect that peoples fear of radiation have kept people from wading out into the water.  Even though the news does not really cover the radiation story, I guess people are worried.  The government says it is safe, but this empty beach says otherwise.

I sincerely hope that the situation improves soon.  I pray for the ground to rest.  I pray that there should be a return to the way things were, but we can never go back.  We must go forward and deal with the situation best as we can.

This was the summer that never happened.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 26th, 2011 at 1:03 am and is filed under Photography Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.