Ehime

Burning Sky and Sea in Futami, Iyo

The town where sunsets stand still

Takako Sakamoto Oct 05, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>When the sun sets on the horizon the sky and sea begin to burn red</p>

<p>Futami Seaside Park in Ehime prefecture: One of the 'Top 100 Sunsets Viewing Spots in Japan'</p>

<p>When the sun begins to set in the west the sky and sea start to shine in a dramatic hue</p>

<p>A gigantic sun shines over the sea as though it's trying to melt it...a blindingly powerful sunshine!</p>

<p>We call the sun just before it sets on the horizon, 'Daruma Sunset'. Unfortunately, when I visited, the upper part of the sun was covered by clouds and I couldn't see the perfect Daruma Sunset</p>

<p>The sunset looked as though it was burning all the clouds to ashes</p>

I visited the Futami Seaside Park, which is one of the 'Top 100 Sunset Viewing Spots' in Japan. This park is located in Futami town, which is a coastline area in Iyo city, in the western part of Ehime prefecture. The whole west side of Futami faces the sea, providing a great view of sunsets, which gave the town the alias, 'The town where sunsets stand still', a catchphrase local people of Futami use to promote their town. And the great scenery I saw here was true to its alias.

I and my family saw this burning red sunset together here in October, two years ago. I still remember our faces then, which were red, reflecting the color of a fiery sunset. My favorite memory!

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...