The Rikuzen coast: Recovering but remembering

In just a couple of weeks, Japan -- and especially the affected area -- will observe the 11th anniversary of the Tohoku triple disaster of March 11, an event so profound that its effects will be felt for decades to come.

Recovery in the area is ongoing as people get on with their lives and visitors are greeted with warm hospitality. The Rikuzen coast (northern Miyagi and southern Iwate prefectures) is an easily accessible part of the area where visitors can see remnants of the damage wrought by the disaster, preserved as museums, for those curious about what happened and how people have coped. There are other more upbeat sights as well, indicating new life and new hope. Especially impressive are various entrepreneurial endeavors, including some that draw on the area’s long tradition of producing some of Japan’s finest seafood.

Takata Matsubara Memorial Park

This park sits at the top of Hirota Bay in the Iwate city of Rikuzentakata. Before the disaster, the area that is now the memorial park was an idyllic pine-filled woodland of approximately 70,000 trees leading to sandy beaches popular in summer. A small marina sat on its western edge, at the mouth of the Kesen River, overlooked by a popular youth hostel.

The tsunami’s waters destroyed all of that, leaving only the badly damaged youth hostel and a single pine tree, now popularly referred to as the “miracle pine”. It is thought that this tree survived shielded from the brunt of the tsunami’s flow the youth hostel bore. (Sadly, the tree later died, poisoned by the salt of the tsunami, and a replica now stands on the site as a symbol of tenacity.)

Inside the park is a Michi-no-Eki selling local produce and other souvenirs as well as the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum, with films and displays on the tsunami and its immediate aftermath. (Open daily, 9:00-17:00; admission free)

The entire park sits behind a massive sea wall erected after the tsunami to protect the city from future disasters. Pine seedlings have been planted between the sea wall and the foreshore, an attempt to replace those washed away.

Schools as museums to the disaster

Just across the Kesen River from the park (and technically a part of it) is the ruin of Kesen Jr High School. It was Japan’s closest school to the ocean at the time of the disaster and the tsunami’s waters completely inundated the three-story concrete structure. Everyone in the school had been evacuated to safety.

Now a museum that is only accessible when accompanied by a guide (make arrangements at the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum), visitors can see first-hand the destruction and debris washed in by the tsunami. Crumpled desks and chairs are strewn about and there is even a large chunk of the roof of someone’s home deposited on the third floor as the tsunami’s waters receded.

In Kesennuma, just down the coast from Rikuzentakata, Kesennuma Koyo High School has also been converted to a museum commemorating the disaster. Here, too, the students had all been safely evacuated before the tsunami struck, but a number of teachers and some construction workers just finishing renovations to one wing of the school sheltered on the roof of the four-story school.

Now known as the Ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake Kesennuma City Memorial Museum, visitors first view a film about the disaster, and then follow a fixed course through the school. Signs with QR codes allow self-guided visitors with smartphones to get additional information in English at various points.

Among the debris, one particular surprise is an upturned car on the third floor. Several other cars, along with broken bits of fishing boats from a nearby marina, lay trapped between two of the school’s buildings.

The museum is open 9:30 to 17:30 (16:30 October to March). Admission is 600 yen; a “storyteller guide” (in Japanese) for 90 minutes is 3,000 yen for up to 20 people.

Getting on the water

Before the disaster, Kesennuma Bay was a well-established center of aquaculture, known especially for its oysters and wakame seaweed. All of that was swept away by the tsunami, along with the boats of local fisherman and the ferry to Oshima, a large island in the middle of bay especially popular with summertime beach goers.

Although it’s been a struggle, recovery has been good. You can catch a ride on a small fishing boat or a larger sightseeing ferry to check it out for yourself. It’s fun to be able to pass under a couple of newly-built bridges that have improved traffic around the city (and out to Oshima) and also to see Kesennuma’s large fish market from the water. Back on dry land, don’t miss Umi-no-Ichi, the consumer’s market just behind the fish market. There’s a shark museum in the building, as well as a tourist information center and an excellent kaiten sushi restaurant.

Epicurean delights

As much fun as Umi-no-Ichi is, to experience Kesennuma’s excellent seafood in concert with locally brewed sake, look to Brewer’s Table, a fine dining experience available with advance reservations through the tourist information center (phone 0226-22-4560 or email k-kanko@k-macs.ne.jp). There are two possible courses (8,000 yen or 12,000 yen) offering four or five dishes featuring local produce exquisitely paired with four local sakes.

Not to be outdone, Café Food Waiwai in Rikuzen Takata offers a hotate waka gozen meal (1,800 yen) featuring fresh scallops and a surprisingly yummy wakame shabu-shabu. It also requires reservations at least two days in advance. Phone 0192-47-4290 or email info@waiwai-takata.com. Waiwai was originally located near Rikuzen Takata train station but reopened further inland after its premises were destroyed by the tsunami. Of course, their menu features many other tasty treats, but the gozen meal is highly recommended.

Camocy, also in Rikuzentakata, is a post-disaster culinary development, a cooperative featuring fermentation. Among the shops in the building are a bakery, a micro-brewery, a chocolaterie, and a couple of outlets for light meals. It’s a perfect place to drop by for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack. A small souvenir shop, also focusing on fermented foods, rounds things out.

Heading to the Hills

In the hills to the east of Rikuzentakata stands a large traditional thatch-roofed house, formerly the home of a local family of carpenters, that has now been converted to a museum (Open 9:00-16:00; closed Wednesdays. Admission free).

About one-third of the massive century old house is occupied by the kitchen/working area with a big irori fireplace in the center, smoke wafting its way into the thatch high above. The front of the remaining two-thirds of the house consists of well-appointed tatami rooms, with special wood features that show off the carpentry skills of the owner. Apparently these rooms were used for entertaining and impressing guests. The family living area is in the rear.

Sit and relax by the fire. The docents will serve you a big bowl of green tea and a skewer of dango rice balls (300 yen) and tell you stories of life in this house.

A fire-proof kura warehouse sits next to the house, presumably to hold family treasures. In front of the kura, with a view down to the sea in the distance, is an eternal flame tower, built in memory of those who lost their lives in the 2011 disaster.

Just next door is a small visitor center with displays on traditional carpentry and different types of wood available in this area.

These are just a few things visitors to the Rikuzen area of Tohoku can experience. In spite of having endured the tragic disaster of 2011, this remains a fun and fascinating area with lots to see and do…and eat.

Vicki L Beyer, a regular Japan Today contributor, is a freelance travel writer who also blogs about experiencing Japan. Follow her blog at jigsaw-japan.com.

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