Dives of Japan’s

SouthernText and photos by Andy Murch Honshu

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Hundreds of banded gather for the shark feed at Ito near Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture (above); Banded (top right)

For a relatively small nation, tranquil, but a few hundred meters from this, the became more confident, Japan has an exceptional degree shore, there are so many banded hound- and he was able to stay underwater with sharks that they block out the sun. them, as long as he kept his distance. of marine biodiversity—especially The shark encounter at Ito came about Once they got used to his bubbles, he among sharks and rays. Exotic when avid diver Kan Shiota learned that crept closer, until they eventually grew elasmobranchs can be encoun- local fishermen were having problems with comfortable enough for him to swim tered virtually anywhere along the sharks. The 1.5m-long predators were steal- among them while they fed. ing fish and causing damage to the fisher- Encouraged by the houndsharks’ new- meandering coastline of southern men’s nets, so Kan had the brilliant idea of found bravery, Kan brought along some Honshu (Japan’s large central luring the sharks away from the fishermen other divers, but the immediately island), but there are a handful of to a site where he could bring divers to panicked and disappeared again. It was hotspots that shark fans should try see them instead. On paper, it sounded extremely frustrating, but Kan refused to great, but the houndsharks turned out to give up. After five long years, the sharks not to miss. be much shier than he had anticipated. were finally habituated enough to tolerate No matter how much bait he brought with large groups of noisy divers. Ito him, the sharks remained extremely skittish, Today, the banded houndshark feed Ito is a quaint little fishing village near but Kan was undaunted. at Ito attracts hundreds of sharks, which A real sharknado! Once feeding starts, the sharks form a tightly woven ball of mouths Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture. From Ito’s Initially, he left a few fish on the reef and completely ignore the humans swimming and fins, twisting and writhing like a big cartilaginous organism (above); Banded hound- tiny harbor, the ocean appears calm and retired to the boat. After a few months of around them. sharks are usually impossible to approach, but at Ito, they are happy to pose for the camera (previous page)

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The feed at Ito also attracts scores of red stingrays that are easily as bold as the rays at Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. It is an impres- sive spectacle, watching the sharks and rays swirling around the bait Underwater Adventures in Kinki crate. But it is not just the number of animals that makes the encoun- Daring. Mythical. Alive. ter interesting. Once the feed gets going, the sharks form a tightly One of the brilliant advantages of diving in the Kinki region in western Japan is woven ball of mouths and fins, which access to tropical diving with a huge range of marine life — even in the winter months. The quality twists and writhes like one enormous cartilaginous organism—a real-life of diving in Japanese waters simply cannot be disputed. In fact, nutrient-rich waters o the coast sharknado! of Kinki mixed with the warm current called “Kuroshio” or “Black Current" from the south, Beyond the shark feed, Ito’s lush make this region one of the absolute best diving spots in Asia. soft coral reefs are also worth explor- ing. Exotic fishes of all shapes and sizes abound, and it is not uncom- mon to find zebra-striped Japanese www.dive-in-japan.com horn sharks secreted away under dark overhangs. Lucky divers may Ito’s colorful reefs (above); Hand-feeding red stingrays in Ito (top) even run into an intricately patterned

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A rarely seen star-spotted smoothhound

A small Japanese angelshark swims boldly­ next to a diver.

see destination for avid shark divers. The island is home to some of the largest Japanese horn sharks you could ever hope to point a camera at. But the most notable predators here are the Japanese angelsharks. Over the winter months, angelsharks migrate inshore from deep water and take up residence on the sand flats sur- rounding the island’s shallow reefs. Superficially ray-like in appear- ance, the flattened sharks flex their pectoral fins until a fine layer of sand covers them to the point of invisibility. With just their eyes and spiracles exposed, the angels wait patiently for a hapless fish to swim within striking distance. Then they Japanese butterfly ray or two, glid- Hatsushima Island explode upwards, mouth agape, ing gracefully over the seafloor. Farther west, around Tokyo Bay, clamping down on their prey with Hatsushima Island is another must- needle-sharp teeth. A beautiful Japanese horn shark at Hatsushima Island (above); An intricately patterned Japanese butterfly ray (left)

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Diver with an enormous Japanese horn shark (above) and a Japanese angelshark (left) at Hatsushima Island.

should yield numerous animals. Izu lies tiny Mikomoto Island—a Like Ito, the rocky reefs barren outcrop of rock topped around Hatsushima are well by a lonely lighthouse. Based stocked with colorful marine on the drab terrestrial terrain, life. Large schools of fish swim one might be tempted to skip back and forth, and kidako Mikomoto completely, but that moray eels appear to inhabit would be a huge mistake. In every crevice large enough September and October, the to accommodate them. The island attracts hundreds of island itself is quite small, so schooling scalloped hammer- there are a limited number of heads as well as other pelagic dive sites. But it is well worth shark , such as grey reef the effort to get to this little sharks and oceanic blacktip gem, located off the eastern sharks. coast of the Izu Peninsula. Although the hammerheads Their camouflage is so good challenge for first-timers, but a are an impressive sight, they that finding these two-meter- methodical search of the sand Mikomoto Island can, of course, be seen at long sharks can be quite a within a few meters of the reef Way down at the bottom of numerous other destinations Kidako moray eels are abundant on the reefs of southern Honshu.

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Japanese wobbegongs are so well camouflaged that they are able to hide in plain sight (above); Location of Ito, near Master the art of freediving with NAUI. Develop RUSSIA Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture on Japan’s largest island of CHINA Honshu (left) the technique and confidence needed to enjoy Sapporo diving in a whole new way. Using Performance species—the ing on their complex camouflage Freediving International (PFI) qualified material, NORTH cryptically- to blend into the background—a patterned strategy that is surprisingly effective. NAUI offers the most cutting-edge and safest East Sea Japanese wob- Among the 12 species of wobbe- training standards in the sport. Learn the skills begong shark. gongs that have been described that allow you to comfortably enjoy the underwater Sendai Like so far, Japanese wobbegongs are Niigata angelsharks, the only ones that occur in the world and improve your breath-holding ability! SOUTH Japan­ese Northern Hemisphere. How they KOREA TOKYO wobbe­gongs ended up in Japan is a mystery, Nagoya Yokohama are ambush but it is likely that they moved north Kobe Hiroshima Osaka predators, which millions of years ago, perhaps look- Fukuoka North Pacific lay in wait for ing for a better food supply. Finding Ocean fish to swim no competition on the lush reefs of Nagasaki within range of southern Honshu, they flourished, their impressive and over time, evolved into a THE DEFINITION OF DIVING FREEDI ER fanglike denti- uniquely Japanese species. MAXIMILIAN DÖRRBECKER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 3.0 @NAUIWorldwide tion. But unlike Mikomoto’s wobbegongs are around the world. But Mikomoto angelsharks, wobbegongs do not very easy to spot during the winter [email protected] | +1 813.628.6284 www.naui.org/certifications/freediving/ Island is an excellent place to spot bury themselves under the sand. months, but there are usually a few another of Japan’s endemic shark They simply lounge on the reef, rely- that remain throughout the sum-

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In the early fall, schooling scalloped hammerheads can be seen at Mikomoto Island (left); Japanese spurdogs are related to spiny dogfish (below); Blotchy swell sharks are able to inflate their stomachs to appear more intimi- dating to predators (lower left) YOU’RE NEVER ALONE WHEN YOU DIVE WITH DAN.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE: Other they can inflate endemic their stomachs with 4 $100,000 Emergency Evacuation Coverage shark water in order to 4 Access to the World’s Leading Dive species securely wedge Accident Insurance Although rarely themselves into 4 Emergency Medical Assistance, Including seen, there are crevices or simply DAN’s 24-Hour Emergency Hotline many more to look bigger and endemic shark scarier to would-be 4 Dive Safety Resources species that assailants. Big Fish Expeditions runs a yearly 4 Alert Diver Magazine divers occa- Other rarities include the star- Japanese shark diving safari in southern sionally run spotted smoothhound, a shy spe- Honshu. For details, please visit: https:// into in Japan. cies that hunts over sandy areas for bigfishexpeditions.com/trips/scuba- For example, and mollusks, and the diving/japan-shark-safari/ when explor- Japanese spurdog, an Asian relative ing Honshu’s of the Atlantic spiny dogfish. Andy Murch is an award-winning pho- mer—in case you prefer to go when deeper reefs, it is worth looking under Whether you are a true shark fanatic tographer, marine conservationist, Explore with DAN @diversalertnetwork conditions are more pleasant. The overhangs for blotchy swell sharks. Like or just an adventurous diver looking for author, journalist, explorer, dive instruc- island also supports a healthy colony so many Japanese species, this secre- an interesting new destination, Honshu tor and submarine pilot based in British DAN.org/MEMBERSHIP of angelsharks, albeit in deeper waters tive shark is easy to miss because of its is a wonderful island to explore and the Columbia, Canada. He is the founder than those at Hatsushima Island. subtle camouflage. perfect place to add a whole lot of and a trip leader of Big Fish Expeditions Swell sharks are so named because new shark species to your life list.  at: bigfishexpeditions.com.

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