A rendering of the new pool in Shima. Image: PerfectSwell
A development company in Japan has announced that it’s bringing a new PerfectSwell wave pool to Agocho, Shima in the coastal prefecture of Mie. Set to open in summer 2026, the four-billion yen (USD $26 million) project is slated to be on par with the size of the Boa Vista Village pool in São Paulo, Brazil, currently the biggest PerfectSwell pool in the world.
The developers, Ise Shima Cultural Development Co., announced that the pool would measure 220 meters by 100 meters and be able to produce 200 different types of waves ranging from knee high to overhead. It will be larger than the current PerfectSwell pool in Makinohara, Japan, Surf Stadium Shizunami, which opened in 2021.
The pool would be the fourth full-scale PerfectSwell pool built. Currently Waco Surf, Boa Vista Village in São Paulo, and Surf Stadium in Japan use the technology. There are also plans in the works to bring another PerfectSwell pool to the city center of São Paulo.
Stakeholders who spoke at the press conference said the pool would be used for competitions and could be the venue for a new type of national surf tour. Additionally, it would be used to prepare junior surfers for the LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics. Surf Stadium in Japan has already been used for competitions and Olympic training. The pool was also visited by USA’s and Japan’s Olympic surf teams for training in the days leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
On its website, the American Wave Machines powered PerfectSwell technology is said to produce up to 10 waves per minute (a wave every six seconds), depending on the amount of people in the pool.
Currently, the development company is in the process of acquiring the land. As of now the scope of the development just includes the wave pool and a dining facility, but other facilities are being considered.
