New artificial surfing attractions to open in Japan

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics set to stage surfing as a competitive sport for the first time, interest in the sport in Japan is set to see the opening of two separate artificial surfing attractions.

The first, Citywave Tokyo, is on track to open this weekend as part of a sports and entertainment complex in the southern Tokyo suburb of Shinagawa.

In the increasingly competitive artificial surfing sector, the new attraction uses German Citywave technology.

Citywave’s fixed unit surf technology is known for its compact footprint producing a wave on which six people can surf simultaniously next to each other.

In addition to the Tokyo attraction, PDS (Plan Do See) Surf has created an operational prototype artificial wave pool near the city of Kobe, developing technology that is planning to export.

According to a release from the Japan-based tourism and hospitality business, the PDS Surf project “can make the entertaining wave waker anywhere on the globe.”

A technical video showing how PDS Surf’s wave is generated can be seen below.

Surfing completion for the 2020 Games will be contested Shidashita (Shida) Beach located about 60 kilometres east of Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture. 

Click here for more information on Citywave.

Click here for more information on PDS Surf.

Main image: Testing for Citywave Tokyo.