I was strongly advised by my peers not to expect much. Keeping those thoughts at bay, on a sunny weekend I hopped on a train and got off at Enoshima, ready to try my luck balancing on a board while riding the waves.

It’s almost summer, and that means it’s time to start planning those weekend beach trips. In Kanto, there are two directions you can head in. The more popular choice for tourists is to go west to Kanagawa, but if you head east out to Chiba you’re spoilt for choice.

While Okinawa is by no means a surf mecca, it can definitely provide some good waves for the opportunistic surfer. This is a "how to" guide for the more adventurous travelers wanting to get in the water on their trip to Okinawa.

Japan is an island country, so there are many attractive remote islands. Part of the Amami archipelago, Amami Oshima is a resort island famous for its beautiful natural attractions.