Sunday starts early at Japan’s busiest beach, Katase Nishihama in Kanagawa Prefecture. By 5:30 a.m., when Ryo Ueno arrives there by motorcycle, surfers are already floating offshore, eager to catch a wave while the wind is still calm. Enoshima Island’s Sea Candle tower stands tall in the background, along with an impressive outline of Mount Fuji that's sure to fade as the day's heat sets in.
Ueno, 28, is director of the Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club (S.L.S.C.), the oldest of its kind in Japan. He leads a team of lifesavers of a variety of ages, and who number around 15 on weekdays and 30 on weekends and holidays.
The difference between lifesavers and lifeguards is that the latter are employed by a specific entity — public or private — to keep people safe. A lifesaver is a member of the public who volunteers to do the same thing. And since lifeguarding isn’t considered a proper career in Japan, it is often lifesavers, in distinctive red-and-yellow uniforms, coming to your aid at the beach.
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