Stand Up Paddleboard, or SUP for short. The paddler stands on a specially made board inflated with air and paddles. SUP is not as difficult as surfing, and the number of people competing in SUP is gradually increasing due to its wide range of activities, which can be played either hard or soft. This time, I accompanied Kenji Kono, an athlete for THE NORTH FACE, on a SUP tour in Hokkaido organized by PEAKS5. The location was the Shakotan Peninsula. The clear blue of the sea is called "Shakotan blue," and it has a beauty that can only be experienced there. The photos and notes below will give you a glimpse of the experience that can only be had by playing with nature on a SUP.
“I received a phone call from a press representative of THE NORTH FACE inviting me to join the event. Kenji Kono, an athlete at The North Face, usually operates a SUP and treehouse facility based at Lake Hokuryu near Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, but this time he was flying all the way to the Shakotan Peninsula in Hokkaido for the SUP event. Recently, we have often heard that SUP is popular in Kamakura and Enoshima areas, but we had never heard of SUP on the Shakotan Peninsula.
Early July. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy. An hour and a half after leaving Tokyo, the plane landed at the new Sapporo Airport, and Mr. Kono and I drove three hours to the Shakotan Peninsula.
The snow-free roads are no different from those in the mainland, but the nature seen from there is still magnificent. Trees and plants so thick that one could almost call them a mass of nature continue to grow uninterruptedly.
First, we arrived at the office of Satoshi Tsukahara of Hokkaido Backcountry Guides, who will be our guide for this trip.
Mr. Tsukahara knows the Shakotan Peninsula and the area around Yoichi very well, and in winter, for example, his overwhelming experience and knowledge allow him to suggest backcountry locations for all levels of clients and cases. He knows not only the winter mountains, but also the coastline where you can play with SUP, and it seems as if playing with nature is a way of life for him.
The Shakotan Peninsula's cliffs are unique in their rocky surface, which has been carved by the wind over many years. The towering rocks, which have never been seen in the seas of Honshu, are a magnificent natural beauty unique to Hokkaido. I know that Japan is a group of many islands and that it is wrong to say that Honshu = Japan, but the scenery of Shakotan did not seem to me to belong to Japan.
To explain again about SUP, you ride an inflated board and basically paddle to propel and change direction while standing up. Unlike surfboards, which use the force of the waves to propel the board, SUPs are self-propelled, so they can be used not only in the ocean, but also in rivers, lakes, and other places. And like snowboarding, mountain climbing, and trekking, it is a sport that takes advantage of the natural terrain, so the enjoyment of the sport varies from place to place.
And the gateway is very wide. For example, in the case of surfing, some people quit the sport because the paddle to the shore is too hard. However, SUP, which uses a board with high buoyancy, can be enjoyed by people who are not so-called "sportsmen and women. Of course, depending on how you put the load on yourself, you can enjoy it in an athletic way, but you can also enjoy "fun riding" to relax and enjoy the place and the scenery. Such iridescent fun is the charm of SUP.
After arriving at the beach, the board is inflated in preparation, which is done using a blower. This smooth preparation is one of the advantages of hiring a professional like Peaks 5. Despite its size, the board is heavy enough to be carried by one person.
Carry the boat to the edge of the surf and land on the water.
Then we paddle out into the ocean that stretches to the horizon. The paddle wobbles, but is stable enough not to fall into the sea.
Its transparency is so high that the color of the sea, which seems to be crystallized blue, is so beautiful that it is almost frightening. Because of its transparency, one can even see through to the large rocks lying on the ocean floor. On the surface of the rocks, black sea urchins are clinging to the surface like a pattern.
How long has this rock been here? Unlike in the city, thoughts about such an eternal time naturally come to mind here.
When we talked to Mr. Kono, he said that he still found great significance in SUPing in this beautiful place. He told me that he had camped on the Shimanto River and rafted down it on a SUP, and that each place has its own unique charm.
He also took us to the "Blue Cave," where we could enjoy a different kind of blue than the "blue" under the sky.
SUP is a great way to exercise and sometimes relax in the midst of magnificent scenery, and it feels as if your emotional antennae, which have been dulled by the plethora of information available in the city, are being returned to neutral. This is probably because just by paddling gracefully on the ocean, free of signs, advertisements, or anything else, one feels as if one is taking one's life and livelihood back into one's own hands. It is the most refreshing experience for me, a city dweller who follows the flow of other people and public transportation.
Anyone can enjoy it, it offers a high degree of freedom and satisfies the spirit of adventure. This summer I was able to enjoy SUP in the Shakotan blue. I have a feeling that this unrealistic SUP experience in this beautiful sea was the first and the best SUP experience of my lifetime.
