Clam crowds

seriously this is about as far from having fun I can think of, digging in mud with 10,000 other people, after traveling to the beach for 2hrs trying to find a car park. then when youve got your clams youve got to repeat the whole process in reverse. Golden week = Golden stress

Twist ending: There is only ONE clam!

guaranteed there will be no clams there next year.

Mmmm! Get your dose of heavy metals and pesticides here!

guaranteed there will be no clams there next year.

...but the crowd will be there, this is what i can guarantee (!)

Just looking at the picture, I wonder if the clam crowds are digging for clams silently and really happy as a clam.

Hopefully, they won't get tired and go into their shell after clamming.

Sustainability at its best.

It's a calamity of clambering clammers!

Japan Today; please give some information, is it something religious or traditional?

This picture is just so sad. There is no room to move, might as well be on the yamanote at rush hour.

Look closely and you'll see the usual motif - 10,000 people on one of the few times in the year they're allowed to enjoy themselves, and they all flock together to do the same thing and there isn't a smile between them.

Doesn't seem very environmentally friendly to the mud, water or clams.

@HaraldBloodaxe

Look closely and you'll see the usual motif - 10,000 people on one of the few times in the year they're allowed to enjoy themselves, and they all flock together to do the same thing and there isn't a smile between them.

Unfortunately, that seems about right... You won't find ME there, (I get claustrophobic pretty quickly..).

Ali Khan. Is not religious, but can be considered has tradition. The reason for the big crowd is that the best time off the year to go clam gulching is between the full moon and the new moon in late April and early May. This causes the lowest tide of the year in Yokohama Bay, the optimum time to dig for clams. It is free so many families can afford this active plus the bonus of cooking and eating fresh clams

This is exactly what the holiday time is supposed to be about: Drag your kids somewhere packed with other bickering families and be miserable so you say, when I have a family, I won't do this with my kids.

Ah, memories.

It seems that all clams would be extinct there for sure. No more there in the future!

I've dug for clams and I know they can dig themselves pretty deep when they hear your footsteps on the sand or mud, so I'm thinking there won't be a lot of successful diggers in that crowd. Can you imagine the noise of 20,000 feet above your head?

Clam school is in session.

This reminds me of the Toshimaen swimming pool...

John-San, Thank you. I hope they get calm and peace whatever way they using

Obviously no size or bag limit there.

As Sabrage said - sustainability at it's best.

Actually, there is a size and bag limit. There are signs posted around the area telling the minimum size and max amount they're allowed to collect. But there's no enforcement.

Look closely and you'll see the usual motif - 10,000 people on one of the few times in the year they're allowed to enjoy themselves, and they all flock together to do the same thing and there isn't a smile between them.

LOL. Yup, the peace and tranquility of another Golden Week in Japan. Too obvious to compare these folks to lemmings rushing to the sea, I guess.

Looks like they did a great job in advertising the event.

Disillusioned: Calamity! What a great collective noun for clams.

@ disillusioned ... continuous crowds of calamity clammers cautiously collecting cunningly camouflaged clams

@wtf

You're familiar with Graeme Base's book?

My kids loved it when they were little....

&wtf

Our favourite was always " Nine nautical newts navigating near Norway".

Don't know why, though....

Having enjoyed some times (but not in Japan) of clamming on a deserted beach, that picture is just terrible. That looks like no fun, at all.

Enjoy your clams.

https://youtu.be/t_MILM2_r4o

We went to Hamamatsu bay near that red Torii stuck into the bay on a rental skiff at low tide and we collected two large coolers full of "asari" clams. We went home and had asari clam soup and cold beer with all our neighbors, it was great.

Sensei258 - thanks for the info re bag & size limits. Out of curiousity what are they?

Locals here take any size & any amount from the beaches.