J-Drama Pilgrimage | Mother (2010) — イタンキ浜 / Itanki Beach, Nao and Rena’s Promise

Episode 1, broadcast April 14, 2010, uses イタンキ浜 / Itanki Beach in Muroran for one of the premiere’s most important outdoor moments: the filming-location archive identifies this as the sand beach where 鈴原奈緒 / Nao Suzuhara and 道木怜南 / Rena Michiki make their promise. That makes the real shoreline part of the point where their teacher-and-child relationship begins changing into the bond that drives the series.

The location remains a recognizable public coastal landscape. Muroran’s official tourism site explains that Itanki is a rare “singing sand” beach: a 1986 survey confirmed it as Hokkaido’s first known beach where clean quartz-rich sand can make a squeaking sound under the right conditions. The site also stresses how easily the phenomenon is damaged by oil, litter and other contamination.

Pilgrims should therefore treat the beach as both a filming location and a sensitive natural site: stay in lawful public areas, take litter away, and do not disturb dunes or protected habitat. The stored coordinate 42.3358327, 141.0272878 is a beach-level reference for Itanki itself, not the precise place where the actors stood or where the camera was positioned in 2010.