Japan is seeing fewer people visit its beaches while erosion and climate change are causing sandy shorelines to disappear, forcing closures at several popular sites. Otake Coast Hokota Beach in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, once known as Ibaraki’s Gold Coast, was not officially opened in 2026 for the second time in three years because of severe erosion and damage to sea-defence embankments.

Visitor numbers have fallen sharply at other beaches. Osaka’s Tokimeki Beach received 101,000 visitors in 2016 but 33,000 in 2025, while Kumanoe Beach in Miyazaki Prefecture declined from about 25,000 visitors in 2005 to only 1,000 in 2025. Nationwide beach attendance dropped from about 37.9 million in 1985 to 4.4 million in 2024, while approved summer beaches fell from 1,379 in 1993 to 966 in 2025.

Experts cite changing lifestyles, extreme heat, declining interest and environmental damage. Sea level along Japan’s coast has risen by an average 3.4 millimetres annually over two decades. A 2025 sand replenishment project at Hokota cost about 40 million yen, but waves removed 12,000 cubic metres of sand within months.