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Kagoshima: Sandbar Allows Visitors to ‘Walk Across Sea’ Like Moses

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:54 JST, June 7, 2025&

IBUSUKI, Kagoshima — A sandbar that appears at an uninhabited island during low tide is attracting attention in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture.

An 800-meter-long sandbar can be observed at Chiringashima Island for several hours a day during low tide from March to October, allowing visitors to walk between the island and the Satsuma Peninsula.

At least 600 people a day are said to visit to enjoy the phenomenon reminiscent of the Old Testament story of Moses parting the Red Sea.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The sandbar is not seen at high tide. The foreground is a campground, formerly a naval air base.

The island sits at a point where two ocean currents collide, causing sand to accu-mulate. The sandbar has made the island popular as a romantic location, too, as it connects two places. A heart-shaped monument has also been placed on the island.

The beautiful sandy beach lies near a campground where the former Ibusuki naval air base was located. Toward the end of World War II, the base served as a suicide attack base for sea-based aircraft, with many young soldiers departing from there.

Remnants of seaplanes are said to still be found on the beach even almost 80 years after the end of the war.