Here on the beach at Shiraishi Island in the Seto Inland Sea, there are few rules. You may swim year-round, even before umibiraki (the opening of the sea ceremony). You may have a bonfire on the beach at night, no problem. You may camp on the beach for free. And by all means, set off fireworks and have a BBQ!

One reason there are no rules on our beach is because there are also no facilities: no public showers, no public garbage cans, no lifeguards. There are no shade trees on the beach to sit under and no public picnic tables or barbecues.

So the burden falls on the residents to provide some of these services. If you want a shower after swimming, be willing to pay ¥200 for it. If you don't want to take your garbage home with you, you'll have to at least buy a designated city-approved garbage bag to toss it into after separating it into burnables, non-burnables and recyclables. If you want shade, you'll have to bring your own umbrella, or rent an umi no ie (beach house) shade structure set up on the beach for this purpose (Japan's answer to the "lounge chair with umbrella" rentals of the Riviera). If you want to change in and out of your swimsuit, you'll have to either use the public toilet (the only public facility provided, not counting the sand on the beach) or pay ¥100 to use those set up by the locals.