Kanagawa

Kamakura, Japan

Q: Is it legal to collect at Kamakura, Japan: Zaimokuza beach by Wakaejima, medieval kawarake shore?

Restricted. Japan: valuable finds are lost property (Lost Property Act, hand to police); buried cultural property must be reported within 7 days (Cultural Properties Protection Act art. 96); Wakaejima is a national historic site, do not move its stones; worn shards are tolerated in practice

Q: What can you find at Kamakura, Japan: Zaimokuza beach by Wakaejima, medieval kawarake shore?

kawarake unglazed dishes, Tokoname stoneware, Chinese celadon, Edo and later porcelain shards, sea glass

Zaimokuza beach by Wakaejima, medieval kawarake shore

Tidal foreshore Source-confirmed findsRestricted

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What you could find

Reported finds from this shoreline.

Sea pottery

Sea glass

Also reported: kawarake unglazed dishes, Chinese celadon.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: NPS (Public domain), Moximox (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Why this spot

Shogunate capital 1185-1333; Wakaejima (1232) is Japan's oldest harbour and broken Chinese and Tokoname cargo was dumped here.

BE-PAL 2022 field piece with NPO archaeologist Furutado: kawarake sake dishes (90 percent of finds), medieval Tokoname, Chinese celadon, later porcelain picked up at ZaimokuzaView source →

Before you go

Hazards noted for this site.

SurfSlippery boulders on Wakaejima, summer beach crowds

Plan your visit

Setting

Tidal foreshore

Collecting guidance

Restricted

Japan: valuable finds are lost property (Lost Property Act, hand to police); buried cultural property must be reported within 7 days (Cultural Properties Protection Act art. 96); Wakaejima is a national historic site, do not move its stones; worn shards are tolerated in practice

Review local rules on the map ↗

Best time to go

Low tide and spring tides (Wakaejima stones expose), best after typhoons stir the shingle; search near the waterline

Check tides

Foot traffic

Moderate

Magazine says Chinese shards were once gathered by the bucket; now a known hobby beach near Tokyo

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