Aomori

Steven Munatones finishing on Tappi Misaki in Aomori Prefecture 6 hours 39 minutes after starting at Shirakami Misaki in Hokkaido in July 1990, with TV Asahi and NHK filming the finish of this unprecedented 19.5 km crossing

Andreas Waschburger crossing the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel from Aomori to Hokkaido in northern Japan on 8 July 2025 in 8 hours 43 minutes 21 seconds at the age of 38 under the escort of Captain Hashimoto and Captain Akimoto with crew members Jasmin Waschburger, Rouven Pagliarini, Masayuki Moriya, Janis Scheuermann, and Steven Munatones. Photo courtesy of Rouven Pagliarini

Aomori Prefecture (青森県) is the name of the city and prefecture in northern Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu that borders the Tsugaru Channel.

Kizuna Enei Oudan Project

The Kizuna Enei Oudan Project is a series of 3 channel swims: (1) Niigata to Sado Island, (2) Aomori Prefecture to Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Channel, and (3) England to France across the English Channel.

Swimming Around Tappi Misaki

Steven Munatones has swum himself to and from Hokkaido and Tappi Misaki on Aomori Prefecture across the Tsugaru Channel and helped Stephen Redmond of Ireland, Darren Miller of the USA, Mark Sowerby of Australia, and Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria cross the 19.5 km channel from Aomori to Hokkaido.

Tsugaru Channel Swimmers of 2026

• Stève Stievenart, France on July 5-9, 2026
• Jeffrey Orenstein, Great Britain on July 11-15, 2026
• Sandra Ramírez Vinay, Mexico on July 17-21, 2026
• Ezequiel Becerril Zuñiga, Mexico on July 23-27, 2026
• Diego Aragón, Mexico on July 29-August 2, 2026
• Sarah Poplar, New Zealand on August 6-10, 2026

External links

• Andrey Bozhko Returns Triumphantly To The Tsugaru Channel
• Sandra Ramírez Vinay Takes Unusual Route To Cross The Tsugaru Channel
• Next Up on the Oceans Seven: Toni Enderli
• Joe Zemaitis Becomes History's First to Achieve Oceans Seven and Stillwater 8
• Jeff Orenstein Was Profoundly Disappointed, But Greatly Honored
• Oceans Seven Swimmers Taming The Dragon Across The Tsugaru Channel
• The 2026 Tsugaru Channel Season: Foreigners Freestyling in the Far East
• Oceans Seven Swimmers Taming The Dragon Across The Tsugaru Channel
• Marine Creatures To Watch For In The Open Water … Adding Bears To The List
• Déjà vu for Paul Georgescu in the Tsugaru Channel
• Breaking News: Seismological Shift Sends Swimmer Shifting Along the Surface of Tsugaru
• The Oceans Seven: Anatomy of a Tsugaru Channel Crossing
• Shoulder Relief: Chieko Osako Becomes the First Japanese to Cross the Tsugaru Channel in 1994
• Mark Sowerby Achieves the Oceans Seven, a 9-Year Journey
• Old-School Shark Policy from Decades Ago
• Bárbara Hernández Huerta Becomes South America's First Oceans Seven Swimmer
• 3 Channels For Kizuna Enei Oudan Project
• Kizuna Enei Oudan Project
• Tsugaru Channel Crossings - Channel Aspirant Information