Metal Detecting in Japan

[Tom_in_CA]

Fine words Tom so why in various countries where metal detecting now has a total ban detecting was allowed on the beaches with a few exceptions, things like historic sites...could be an ancient port now gone, or a site of scientific interest or is just a nesting ground or place where turtles bury their eggs. The "don't worry about that crew" came in and in the end the authorities decided to give up and just impose a total ban.

O well I'm off for a week to sit on a sunny beach where detecting is allowed (with permit).

Brian, I'm not understanding your point. Are you saying that: If someone, on a beach where detecting has just historically gone on and no one cares, yet given enough sleuthing, verbage like that can be found, ... and "afterall, they might find an old coin", ... that thus, they will lead to a total ban?

If so, then this line of reasoning on your part has just effectively meant that thousands of beach hunters in CA (just to use CA as an example) should therefore stop hunting our beaches, because afterall, given enough morphings, we can find things we run afoul of. I really don't think you're going to prevail on any beach hunter here to see things that way. They're going to look at you with wide dazed eyes, and say "but detecting is allowed here". Whereupon you or I merely open up the books, show them cultural heritage things or lost & found laws, and say "presto, now go home and be shamed for having detected". It just doesn't work that way. Do you tell them to go "seek permits" as a pre-emptive measure for something in which isn't an issue? So I'm not sure what you meant when you alluded to "permits", if we're talking places where .... essentially .... these things (cultural heritage, lost & found laws, etc...) have not been applied to casual beach hunting.

 

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[Ricochet]

Misawa

I live in Misawa Japan and have looked into the metal detecting laws here. There aren't any. Metal detecting is not very popular here so no laws concerning it have been written...yet. The laws that we do have to obey are basically... if someone asks you to leave you have to. Ask permission to hunt on private land and it is illegal to remove artifacts from national parks. National parks include beaches and forest preserves. That being said, no one is going to bother you at the beach or in a park as long as you are not creating trouble.

I'm stationed in Misawa now with the Navy. I've never detected before & feel nervous about just going out to a public park & cutting plugs. I'm not really sure what constitutes as a park. In my mind, a park is something like a kids play area, like the train park near the Air Force base, or the playgrounds near Lake Ogawara. I fear whether this is really perfectly legal & whether it will be viewed by the Japanese people as destroying/marring the property. I was wondering if you could tell me what parks, forests & other places you have detected at so I can have a better idea about it. I feel like i should be safe detecting at the local beaches, like Veedol, Sabishiro & the base beach since its just sand. What about the camp sites around the lake? What about the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom festival grounds & other such festival grounds? What about the nature trails by Lake Tawada or the Oirase Gorge? I wish I spoke the language & knew how & who to contact to ask permission for each place. Any help you may offer will be appreciated. I just ordered the Minelab Vanquish 540 pro pack by the way, so I should be straight concerning the saltwater & black sand beaches. Well, the beach on base has blackish colored sand anyways. Do you still live in Misawa or were you just stationed here like me? If you are still here, could we perhaps meet up & become metal detecting buddies?

 

[jerseydevil523]

Ricochet, I will be in Misawa this summer if you are looking for someone to detect with. This will be my third time there but the 1st time since I picked up the hobby myself.