Chichibugahama

Chichibugahama is about a kilometre of very flat sand facing west into the Inland Sea, and the combination that makes it work is specific: the gradient is shallow enough that when the tide goes out it leaves a thin sheet of water lying on the sand, the beach faces the sunset, and the wind on many evenings drops to nothing. The result is a mirror - the sky, the sunset and anyone standing on it are reflected whole - and comparisons to the Uyuni salt flat are made locally and are not unreasonable for the half hour it lasts. It requires all three conditions at once: low tide near sunset, little wind, and clear sky. Tide tables for the beach are published locally and people plan around them. Outside those windows it is an ordinary and rather plain beach with a car park and a few cafes behind it.

What you actually see

• A mirror at low tide - a thin water film on flat sand reflecting the sky.
• A west-facing beach - the sunset lying directly along the reflection.
• Three conditions at once - low tide near sunset, no wind, clear sky.
• A published tide table - locally posted so visits can be planned.

When to go

Evenings when low tide falls near sunset, April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The effect fails without all three conditions and most evenings do not deliver it. The window is roughly half an hour. Popular evenings crowd the reflection with other photographers. There is very little else at the beach.

Nearby

Kanonji and the Zenigata sand coin are north; Takamatsu is east.