The brilliant white sand is not local: since 1989 it has come from a beach near Perth.
A 640-metre arc between the Gonken headland and Yuzaki, with sand that is 90% quartz, which gives it the white colour behind the place's name (‘white-white beach’). Since 1989 Wakayama Prefecture has imported sand from a desert area near Perth, in Western Australia, to keep that brightness: the alternative local sands, which were darker, could not compare. In 2000 Shirarahama became a ‘sister beach’ of Waikiki, in Hawaii.
Beach in Shirahama, selected as one of the hundred best beaches in Japan in 1996 and designated a ‘bathing beach of excellence’ by the Ministry of the Environment in 2006.
ℹ️ Free entry, open at all times; lifeguarded bathing season in summer (exact dates to be checked on the official site). 15 minutes by bus from Shirahama Station.
🚉 Hashiriyu · 7 min walk
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