ISALC: ESL 382: Computer Applications

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Culture Capsules: People, Places, and Processes Saori Tokumitsu & Fardan Ramli Please listen to our message.

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The Most Popular Japanese Beaches
Saori Tokumitsu

<Recreation in Japan>

Most Japanese people go out side of their houses on weekends. In winter we, Japanese, usually go skiing, skating or to hot springs with our friends or families. In summer, we usually go to beaches. In Japan, I usually go to hot springs, shopping, for a drive, and to eat out with my family or my friends every weekend. I live in Hokkaido, so I have a really short season to go to the beaches; however, I usually go there once or twice every weekend during summer vacation. I like to go camping, cook meals, like curry and rice, or have a barbecue and enjoy some fireworks with my family on the beach

<The Sea of Japan>

Japan is surrounded by the sea, but there not enough beaches to visit because 70% of Japan is mountains. Wherever you visit in Japan, however, you can't be far from the beach. Half of Japan's coastline faces the Northern Pacific, and catches the entire deep ocean. The other half faces the Sea of Japn. Your first step is to check out a map and find the closest beach, then hop on a train or in a car and head down to see if people are swimming there, or if there are any shops.

<The Most Famous Beach in Japan>

The most famous beach spots in Japan are in Shonan in Kanagawa prefecture, just over an hour from Tokyo. There are mellow beaches, perfect for visitors, with plenty of surf shops, food shops, and shower rooms. For many people it is the most convenient. During the summer, the conditions are often announced on many Web sites, radio, and TV daily, so Shonan is crowded on good days and weekends. Most days it is 35 C. and 90% humidity. You can enjoy, however, sitting on the sand or swimming with your friends and families there.

<The Shallowest Beach in Japan>

I didn't know exactly where the shallowest beach in Japan was before I started reserching this web project, but it is ”Kisakata beach". I found a good Web site for Kisakata beaches. According to the web, the waves are gentle, so you can bring your family and feel safe swimming there. And they have restrooms, showers, and changing rooms that you can use free of charge. You can enjoy windsurfing during the spring; however, in July and August the beach is only used for swimming.

<The Northernmost beach in Japan>

Hokkaido Shonan surfing undoubtedly is best at Itanki Beach in Muroran. On any given summer day the beach is packed with sunbathers and the water is full of surfers. I’ve never been there, but I would like to go there someday.

< The Southernmost Beaches In Japan>

I live in Hokkaido and I have never been to Okinawa. That’s why I didn’t know about Okinawa beaches. I found the Okinawa beach the most attractive feature for Okinawa travelers. Now I recommend that you go to the beautiful beaches of Okinawa Island and to other interesting islands in the Okinawa prefecture. There are three popular beaches on the west side of Okinawa Island. I would like to go there someday to be relaxed with my friends.

<For Surfers>

For surfers, unlike most surf spots in the world, Japan's top surf season comes the same time as the best weather. According to the website, Outdoorjapan.com, From June to September, regular typhoons generate in the Pacific to the south of Okinawa, and march up the east coast, producing epic waves almost everywhere. They say that the days before and after the typhoon are generally the best to go surfing. They recommend to go to the sheltered beach to catch little perfect waves.

There are vrious ways to enjoy your summer in Japan; however, I think going to the beach is the most popular. There are many different beaches in Japan and all of them will provide you with beautiful, perfect summer memories.

In Indonesia, there are so many beautiful places that you can visit every year. Since Indonesia is located in a tropical area and consists of many small and big islands, which are separated by the sea, some of the most beautiful recreational places that you can visit are beautiful, tropical beaches. Even though there are many places to experience beautiful beaches in Indonesia, the most famous one is Bali Island.

Located eight or nine degrees south of The Republic of Indonesia between Java Island and Lombok, Bali is a tropical island with great beauty of nature and wildlife. The weather in Bali is very nice. The sun rises at 6 A.M. and sets at 6 P.M. most of the year and the temperatures average 31 degrees Celsius. In Bali, there are two seasons that occur in every year, which is the dry season from March to September, and the wet season for the other half of the year, but the difference is very minimal. Only at the peak of wet season the weather will be cloudy and sometimes you will see a downpour in the afternoon. The perfect time to visit Bali is from April to October.

On this 2,175 square mile island, there are more than thirteen beaches, which are so beautiful and interesting to visit. The name of the beaches are Legian, Kuta(1), Jimbaran(2), Tuban(2), Sanur(1), Nusa Dua(1), Nusa Lembongan, Ahmed & Tulamben, Padang Bai(1), Candi Desa(1), Lovina(1), and Tanah Lot(1). Each of these places has their own exquisite panorama and good resort facilities, such as good hotels, cafes, restaurants, and places to rent water sport equipment. These can be experienced by many tourists from different countries.

The best things that you can do when you visit Bali Island are sunbathing and seeing the amazing sunset(3). Doing some water sports like surfing, canoeing, snorkeling, diving, fishing, and swimming are also fun and interesting, but you cannot do all of these activities on every beach. For example in Tanah Lot, since the waves are too big and there are so many sharp and large rocks, water sports are prohibited. But it is the best place to see an ancient temple with a dramatic sunset(1) as a fabulous backdrop. To have excellent waves(4) for surfing, you can go to Kuta, Uluwatu, or Nusa Dua. Going diving, snorkeling and fishing will be a perfect experience at Sanur, Candi Dasa, Tulamben, Padang Bay, Nusa Dua, Menjangan Island, and Nusa Penida. To have a romantic sunset in the evening and enjoy some delicious food, you can try to visit Amed & Tulamben, Jimbaran, Candi Dasa and Lovina. The restaurants usually have many kinds of dishes, from traditional Balinese and Lombok dishes to Italian, Mexican, Thai, Mediterranean, Korean and Middle Eastern.

There are so many things that you can do in Bali. Following are a few that I know about and can recommend personally. In the morning or at noon you can enjoy your time on one of the Bali Beaches, doing some water sports, sun bathing, walking on the beach, eating lunch in a restaurant or, if you come at the right time, you can see an interesting religious ceremony and Bali dances for free. The most interesting dance that I saw when I was visiting Bali was the Barong Dance; it narrates the fight between good and evil. This dance is the classic example of Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into one reality. If you prefer to go shopping, there are so many shops around Bali especially at Denpasar, Legian Street and Kuta Square. In my experience, some of the small shops have very good prices, especially if you can speak Indonesian and are good at bargaining. At night you can try to visit the Hard Rock café at Kuta and have some fun. It is quite interesting, especially for some young people because in this café a good band regularly performs from 11 pm until 2 am. Therefore, at this time you can buy something to drink or maybe go on the dance floor, but if you are tired, you can sit and listen to the band. I think the band and singing are very good.

In point of fact, Bali Island is a perfect place to visit. The people are very friendly, the place is safe with beautiful sunsets, nice weather and interesting Hindu culture. No wonder that every year many tourists from different countries come and enjoy their vacation in this "land of the gods." I am sure that you will enjoy Bali as your next recreation destination.

1) http://www.bali-beaches.com/index.htm

2) http://www.bali-holiday.com/

3) http://balicard.com/balisun.html

4) http://home.bip.net/tony.dalbrekt/slides/mixed-4.htm

5) home.t-online.de/home/ barong/indo2.htm

6) http://www.indo.com/diving/ena/sites.html

Many countries in the world have an ocean on their border. Beaches are used by people in these countries for commerce and recreation. Indonesia and Japan both consist of islands so they surrounded by the sea. Therefore, these countries have many beaches to visit. These two countries’ beaches have both similarities and differences.

There are a few similarities between our countries’ beaches. The main similarities between our countries are that although Japan and Indonesia are surrounded by the ocean, almost 70% of the land consists of mountains and forests. That is why most beaches are very crowded in summer time. People go swimming, surfing, bathing, snorkeling, and so on. For the most part, the beaches in Indonesia and Japan are very beautiful. They have great waves, beautiful sunsets, and beautiful scenery, both under the sea and on the beach. That's why many domestic and international tourists come to enjoy their summer vacation on these two countries’ beaches.

Although there are a few similarities between the beaches of Indonesia and Japan, there are many more differences. Indonesia is an archipelago located in Southeast Asia. Most of its islands are positioned near the equator. For that reasons, Indonesia has a tropical climate with average temperature between 20 to 30 C and only has two seasons, which are six months for dry season and the other half year for rainy season. With these situations, surely, there will be a longer time for people to visit and enjoy their vacation on the beaches, especially in Bali. Different from Indonesia, Japan, which is located in East Asia, has four seasons each year. But since the Japanese islands are very long from north to south, there are many varied beaches with different climates. The beaches in the middle are typical beaches in Japan. People usually crowd these beaches only in summer because it is too cold to swim in fall, winter, and spring. However, in the southern part of Japan there is a beach, which is similar to a tropical beach, so many people can visit there almost all year. In the north, the beaches have a very short summer time, so people visit only a few weeks.

We have compared beaches between Indonesia and Japan. We have found out that there are many beautiful beaches to visit in both countries. In Japan, people have shorter summer time than Indonesia because we Japanese have four seasons in a year. On the other had, in Indonesia, people have only two seasons, but they can swim the whole year. We advise that you go visit beaches in both countries and enjoy a beautiful romantic sunset or sunrise. Also, we recommend that you go swimming, snorkeling, bathing, sitting on the sand and getting tanned. We promise you that those experiences will be everlasting, beautiful, and precious memories.

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