Tokushima tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 08:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Asia/Tokyo local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sun 17 May (range 2.3m). Next neap on Thu 14 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Tokushima is the capital of Tokushima Prefecture on the northeastern corner of Shikoku, built on the delta of the Yoshino River where it meets the Kii Channel — the passage between Shikoku and the Kii Peninsula of Honshu. The city straddles multiple river channels on a flat alluvial plain barely above sea level. The Kii Channel carries the combined tidal exchange of the entire Seto Inland Sea system and produces strong tidal currents, particularly in the Naruto Strait 15 km to the north. The tidal regime at Tokushima is semidiurnal with a spring range of approximately 1.8 m above Chart Datum. Mean high water springs is around 1.3 m; mean low water springs around 0.5 m. Neap range narrows to 0.7–0.9 m. The Kii Channel carries 2.0–4.0 knots of tidal current at its centre on springs. The Naruto Strait, 15 km northeast of Tokushima, connects the Kii Channel to the east with the Ōsaka Bay system to the west through a channel barely 1.3 km wide. The result is tidal currents of 15–20 km/h (8–11 knots) at peak spring flow, creating whirlpools (uzushio) up to 20 m in diameter. These are the most visited tidal phenomenon in Japan. The dedicated Naruto current tables published by the Japanese Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department give the exact peak times; they differ from the Tokushima tide table by 30–60 minutes. For sea kayakers, the Kii Channel coast south of Tokushima city offers sheltered paddling between river mouths and offshore islands. The coastal current runs 0.5–1.5 knots parallel to the coast on the flood. The Yoshino River itself offers tidal estuary paddling upstream from the river mouth for 6–8 km before the tidal influence becomes negligible. Fishing in the Tokushima area targets the productive Kii Channel waters for yellowtail (hamachi/buri), amberjack, and sea bream. The current rip at the northern entrance to the Kii Channel concentrates pelagic fish on the upstream side of the tidal current; charter boats fish this rip on the spring ebb. Shore fishing from the Yoshino River estuary targets flounder and sea bass on the flooding tide. The Awa Odori dance festival in mid-August draws over one million visitors to Tokushima over four days — one of Japan's three great Obon festivals. The festival grounds run along the Yoshino River embankment, where the river at this time of year is at late-summer low-water flow, with the 1.8 m tidal range clearly visible as tidal staining on the embankment walls. All tide predictions for Tokushima come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.