Canadian Polar Bear Swim Meets Japanese Onsen
January 9, 2026
Episode Notes
Excellent, good morning Nice, uh, nice hood do you got there.
Thank you very much.
This is Canadian International School.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Maybe hard to see, but actually I, I do some part-time work for the Canadian International School.
Being a good Canadian educator as you are, very kind of you.
The owners are Japanese, so that it's not too Canadian.
Yeah, very cool.
I remember last week we were talking about uh Hatsumode.
Yeah.
And you said something really, really enticing.
It's like some special hot sumode, but really weird.
Tell me a little bit about this.
So, uh, actually, this, uh, jersey I got as a gift, this is a, a Canadian Olympic jersey from hockey from a long time ago, about 30 years ago, um, but on January 1st, there's an annual event in Kobe that we, we enjoy.
It's a Canadian event.
OK.
The host is, I don't know if you're aware of the Ksite Canadian Association.
I've heard of it, yes, KDCAact Canadian Association, and then there's also like a Japan, Canada Friendship Association or something, which is like a national organization.
Right? So those two, they, they host an annual polar bear swim.
Yes.
Which beach? Uh, Maiko Beach, which is right under Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
OK, yeah.
I think Suma is, is the more famous beach in Kobe, and then just a little past Suma is Maiko Beach.
So yeah, January January 1st, we were in the ocean swimming.
Wow! How was it? Really cold? You know, I, I did it every year in Canada for years and years, and of course, my hometown is not nearly as cold as your hometown.
Um, but even Well, I'll tell you how cold it was.
It was like a cold summer day in Canada.
OK, OK.
Um, yeah, and the, the, the amazing thing, the water temperature that day was 14 °C.
That's not bad.
And in my hometown in in Nanaimo or Vancouver in summer.
Yeah.
Summer, the ocean is around 15 degrees.
Yes, yes, Water temperature is almost the same as Canada in summer.
I.
It was a sunny, beautiful blue sky day, and it was, it was quite warm, but it was really windy, which was a little.
That makes it hard, yeah.
Um, but yeah, we, we really enjoyed that.
Uh, a lot of people came.
The whole family.
I don't know, but I mean, the, the whole event itself, probably over 100 people were there.
OK, yes.
Of which probably 40 or 50 went swimming.
Right, right, right.
Um, and there's also, there's a, uh, Kobe Lifeguard Association comes as the, the safety net for us.
So they're in the water as well supporting us.
OK, good.
Yeah.
Um, so it's very safe and, and wonderful, and, uh, We take a group photo beforehand.
There's a, a big B Kobe sign, you know, those big signs people like to take pictures in front of for tourists.
OK, right, right.
So we take a photo there.
That's cold cause you're standing there in your swimsuit with the cold wind on, you're waiting while people take pictures.
Right, right, right, that's cool.
And then, and then we go down to the water and the host, uh, a guy named Mark who's, um, from, from the west coast, from Victoria in Canada, and he's, he's been organizing it for over 30 years.
He puts ceremonial ice.
He brings a bag of ice which he drops into the ocean to, to help cool it down.
Yes.
And then, and then we do a quick countdown and everyone jumps in and swims around.
Um, then we come out and then we have a potluck party at the beach.
Everyone brings food and somebody being very Canadian brought a huge pot of hot chili.
Like chili, yeah, I mean, that's what polar bears swim typically hot chocolate and chili con carne and a and a bonfire.
OK, yeah.
So that was also really nice having the, the potluck party and but but it was windy.
Yes.
But the key point here, because this is a Japanese hatsumode slash Canadian polar bear slim, but we're in Japan.
Afterwards, we all go to the onsen on the beach.
Wow, so nice, yes, yeah, go warm up at the onsen, which, um, was, was, if you can imagine your typical Japanese onsen, but with like 50 Canadian men suddenly mashed in there.
It was a men.
It was quite the, the party scene, but there were, and a lot of people come.
I mean, of course, a lot of Japanese people swim as well, but also British, Scottish, Irish, uh, German, French, American, a lot of people come.
It's so fun, yeah.
Sure, sure, sure.
And I wore this shirt all the way there and all the way home on the train and stuff to, to show off my Canadian bride.
Right, right, right.
Cool, cool.
You know, that's, that's funny about the polar bear swim because coming where I come from, we don't do the polar bear swim.
Why not? Cause you'd have to cut through about this much ice.
There are places that do it.
They cut through the frozen ice, and they dunk in the little pool they've made.
Yes, and that's the, it's very little.
Because you can't get that much ice.
Yeah, in and out quick, cause if not, you'll freeze.
Anyway, my tea is almost done.
Yep, my coffee is gone, so I gotta move on.
Time to get to work.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Take care and see you next week.
See you later.
Thank you very much.
This is Canadian International School.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Maybe hard to see, but actually I, I do some part-time work for the Canadian International School.
Being a good Canadian educator as you are, very kind of you.
The owners are Japanese, so that it's not too Canadian.
Yeah, very cool.
I remember last week we were talking about uh Hatsumode.
Yeah.
And you said something really, really enticing.
It's like some special hot sumode, but really weird.
Tell me a little bit about this.
So, uh, actually, this, uh, jersey I got as a gift, this is a, a Canadian Olympic jersey from hockey from a long time ago, about 30 years ago, um, but on January 1st, there's an annual event in Kobe that we, we enjoy.
It's a Canadian event.
OK.
The host is, I don't know if you're aware of the Ksite Canadian Association.
I've heard of it, yes, KDCAact Canadian Association, and then there's also like a Japan, Canada Friendship Association or something, which is like a national organization.
Right? So those two, they, they host an annual polar bear swim.
Yes.
Which beach? Uh, Maiko Beach, which is right under Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
OK, yeah.
I think Suma is, is the more famous beach in Kobe, and then just a little past Suma is Maiko Beach.
So yeah, January January 1st, we were in the ocean swimming.
Wow! How was it? Really cold? You know, I, I did it every year in Canada for years and years, and of course, my hometown is not nearly as cold as your hometown.
Um, but even Well, I'll tell you how cold it was.
It was like a cold summer day in Canada.
OK, OK.
Um, yeah, and the, the, the amazing thing, the water temperature that day was 14 °C.
That's not bad.
And in my hometown in in Nanaimo or Vancouver in summer.
Yeah.
Summer, the ocean is around 15 degrees.
Yes, yes, Water temperature is almost the same as Canada in summer.
I.
It was a sunny, beautiful blue sky day, and it was, it was quite warm, but it was really windy, which was a little.
That makes it hard, yeah.
Um, but yeah, we, we really enjoyed that.
Uh, a lot of people came.
The whole family.
I don't know, but I mean, the, the whole event itself, probably over 100 people were there.
OK, yes.
Of which probably 40 or 50 went swimming.
Right, right, right.
Um, and there's also, there's a, uh, Kobe Lifeguard Association comes as the, the safety net for us.
So they're in the water as well supporting us.
OK, good.
Yeah.
Um, so it's very safe and, and wonderful, and, uh, We take a group photo beforehand.
There's a, a big B Kobe sign, you know, those big signs people like to take pictures in front of for tourists.
OK, right, right.
So we take a photo there.
That's cold cause you're standing there in your swimsuit with the cold wind on, you're waiting while people take pictures.
Right, right, right, that's cool.
And then, and then we go down to the water and the host, uh, a guy named Mark who's, um, from, from the west coast, from Victoria in Canada, and he's, he's been organizing it for over 30 years.
He puts ceremonial ice.
He brings a bag of ice which he drops into the ocean to, to help cool it down.
Yes.
And then, and then we do a quick countdown and everyone jumps in and swims around.
Um, then we come out and then we have a potluck party at the beach.
Everyone brings food and somebody being very Canadian brought a huge pot of hot chili.
Like chili, yeah, I mean, that's what polar bears swim typically hot chocolate and chili con carne and a and a bonfire.
OK, yeah.
So that was also really nice having the, the potluck party and but but it was windy.
Yes.
But the key point here, because this is a Japanese hatsumode slash Canadian polar bear slim, but we're in Japan.
Afterwards, we all go to the onsen on the beach.
Wow, so nice, yes, yeah, go warm up at the onsen, which, um, was, was, if you can imagine your typical Japanese onsen, but with like 50 Canadian men suddenly mashed in there.
It was a men.
It was quite the, the party scene, but there were, and a lot of people come.
I mean, of course, a lot of Japanese people swim as well, but also British, Scottish, Irish, uh, German, French, American, a lot of people come.
It's so fun, yeah.
Sure, sure, sure.
And I wore this shirt all the way there and all the way home on the train and stuff to, to show off my Canadian bride.
Right, right, right.
Cool, cool.
You know, that's, that's funny about the polar bear swim because coming where I come from, we don't do the polar bear swim.
Why not? Cause you'd have to cut through about this much ice.
There are places that do it.
They cut through the frozen ice, and they dunk in the little pool they've made.
Yes, and that's the, it's very little.
Because you can't get that much ice.
Yeah, in and out quick, cause if not, you'll freeze.
Anyway, my tea is almost done.
Yep, my coffee is gone, so I gotta move on.
Time to get to work.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Take care and see you next week.
See you later.