Beach of the Back Side of Japan – The Sea of Japan in Sakata City

Japan is, as many of you know, surrounded by the sea. The Pacific Ocean side is considered as the front side of the country.  Meanwhile, the side of Japan Sea is called the back side shore. I don’t know exactly how to decide the front and back about the coastline. Probably because most of the major cities are located on the Pacific Ocean side, that’s why it’s called “front”. But I can say the water is cleaner at the back side sea than at the front side, because there are less big cities draining dirty water to the sea on the back side shore than on the front side.

The city of Sakata in Yamagata is located on the Japan Sea side and one of main port cities in the back side Japan.  I visited a suburban beach of the city. The water was truly clean.

  

FYI:

• About Sakata Area: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/yamagata/sakata_city.html
• Travel Info of Sakata: http://www.sakata-kankou.gr.jp/cgi/kf/kfinfo.cgi
• Beaches in Sakata Area (Japanese): http://www.4071.net/note/sea.html