Kodomari Route

From Openwaterpedia
Benten Cape on the Tsugaru Channel in Kodomari village
Benten Cape from Kodomari village in Aomori Prefecture where Tsugaru Channel swimmers begin their swim

noun - The Kodomari Route is one of the two channel swimming routes between the island of Honshu and Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Channel in Japan. The Kodomari Route starts on Kodomari Benten Cape on Honshu's Aomori Prefecture and finishes at Shirakami Misaki on Hokkaido. The Kodomari Route was pioneered by David Yudovin on 7 July 1990.

Kodomari Route

The Kodomari Route is longer than the Tappi Misaki Route, but it is considered to be more conservative with less risk and a higher percentage of success. The Tappi Misaki Route is shorter, but is considered to be more risky with a lower percentage of success.

Origin

First described by Steven Munatones in 1990.

Tsugaru Channel

The Tsugaru Channel or Tsugaru Strait (津軽海峡 or Tsugaru Kaikyō in English) is a channel between the Honshu, the main island of Japan, and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean and one of the swims in the Oceans Seven. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point (19.5 km) between Tappi Misaki on the Tsugaru Peninsula in Aomori, Honshū and Shirakami Misaki on the Matsumae Peninsula in Hokkaidō. The Tsugaru Current passes from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean.

The Tsugaru Channel has eastern and western necks, both approximately 20 km across with maximum depths of 200 and 140 m respectively. In the past, the most common way for passengers and freight to cross the strait was on ferries, approximately a four-hour journey. Now the Seikan Tunnel provides a convenient but more expensive alternative and approximately halves the travel time in comparison to ferrying. When Shinkansen trains can traverse the tunnel to Hakodate (scheduled for 2015), the journey time will be cut to 50 minutes.

The channel crossing is among the Top 50 Open Water Swims In Asia. It is also part of the Oceans Seven challenge. Channel swims across the Tsugaru Channel are administered by the Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association. The crossing is also known as the English Channel of the Far East.

Origin

Coined by Steven Munatones in 2009.

Synonym

Kodomari Course

External links

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