At Mitsu Fishing Port (Amino-cho, Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture), where you can overlook the Sea of Japan, you can control the sea kayak freely and invite tourists to the scenery of the San'in Kaigan Geopark. "It's a place I've been playing with since I was a child, and I'm familiar with it. But I'm trying to be more careful and consider safety." Kanae Sawa (38)'s tanned face and her well-trained arm holding the paddle are reliable.
In May 2020, Sawa opened a marine leisure business called Tobiwatari as a sea kayak and snorkeling instructor who guides you through the surrounding sea. More than 300 groups, mainly from Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, participated in the tour. The name of the office is derived from the so-called "Tobiwatari" cape on the course where strata are folded. It boasts a high level of transparency that makes it almost as if you can touch the seabed. You can enter the 30-meter-deep cave created by wave erosion by sea kayak. A customer said, "You don't have to go to Okinawa, but this place is good." I was happy from the bottom of my heart.
Ms. Sawa admired the instructor of the swimming class she attended when she was a child, and got a job at a local swimming school. After working as an instructor, she started a new school by herself, but it was closed in July 2019 due to temporary ill health. She found a cave when she swam in the sea of Mitsu, which also served as rehabilitation. She said, "I want to do a job that teaches people how fun it is to play in the sea." She spent half a year in Miyakojima (Okinawa Prefecture), where marine leisure is popular, and accumulated practical experience.
Ms. Sawa has something to worry about about the sea in her hometown. It's a lot of drifted garbage. She incorporates beach cleanup into her course to make people feel the importance of protecting the beautiful ocean. Elementary school students who were afraid of the sea energetically paddled out in about two hours and listened intently to the story of garbage with a serious expression. renew. Several times a year, they hold beach cleaning events to promote environmental conservation.
