Parkinson, or “Parko” as the Australian is affectionately known, said he had enjoyed some fun surfs during the festival.  The 2012 ASP World Champion also took some of the next generation of surfers through their paces during a surf school attended by local children, one of a program of events offered alongside the contest.   

“Of course, there was the issue of the nuclear power plant, but we need to move on from that.  Having overseas guests like Parko spread the word to the world about what a great place this is, is so important,” Shinji Murohara, chairman of the festival’s organizing body, said. 

Murohara, a prominent local surfer, is one of the leading figures of surf tourism in Minamisoma. He believes the festival marked a turning point for the initiative. 

“To a certain extent, the situation here has been communicated to the rest of Japan - that the area is safe, that more people are coming here,” he said. “Now it's time to tell the world that this area is safe.” 

Background video : ©︎KITAIZUMI SURF FESTIVAL 2024

Realizing the ocean resource 

Efforts to revitalize Minamisoma through surf tourism began around 20 years ago when surfer Hideki Okumoto first visited the area.  

Okumoto, a professor at Fukushima University, was part of a committee charged with reviving manufacturing in the city after factories began leaving the area in the 1980s, taking jobs with them and leaving behind an aging population.  

The professor’s attention, however, was drawn to the vibrant surfing scene at Kitaizumi which he felt presented a striking contrast to some of the gloomy data coming out of the city. 

"Revitalizing manufacturing was a good thing, but the city had more to offer. The ocean,” Okumoto told Kyodo News Plus during the festival period. 

Okumoto envisioned a town revitalized through the use of its ocean resource, with people moving to the area to enjoy life by the beach.  Outside the world of surfing, Minamisoma is best known for the Soma Nomaoi festival, an annual military reenactment featuring a parade of samurai on horseback.   

With the creation of the Minamisoma Surf Tourism Promotion Committee in 2003, Okumoto brought together local surfers, chambers of commerce, and tourism associations, among other organizations, to ensure that any resulting initiative would benefit the city as a whole, not just surfers.   

The committee faced early opposition, according to Okumoto.  Some of the area’s older residents, unfamiliar with surfing culture, were fearful of inviting surfers to the city who they took to be a bad influence.  Meanwhile, local surfers were wary of their Kanto-based counterparts traveling further north to escape the crowded breaks of Chiba and Shonan.    

With many local surfers having to leave the area in search of work, and quit surfing as a result, however, surf tourism aimed to create opportunities for them to stay and make their living by the beach. 

Promoting and maintaining a safe beach environment was a priority for the initiative.  Local surfers were employed as lifesavers with the city providing a budget to cover their salaries.  Subsidies also came from the prefecture, to hold contests attracting surfers from all over Japan.  

By 2010, contests were a regular fixture in Kitaizumi. For Okumoto and the city they were also an opportunity to show residents and visitors the different ways they could enjoy the beach environment year-round.  In town, some restaurants and cafes were even offering free coffee and beer to the visiting surfers, according to Okumoto.  

With the increase in surfers and repeat visitors to the city came an increase in support for surf tourism.