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[Kamaishi] Extend your legs from Sendai and explore the Sanriku coast for 2 days and 1 night [Tohoku/Iwate]

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Kamaishi City, located in Iwate Prefecture in Tohoku, is a port town where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Sanriku coast and gourmet cuisine made with fresh seafood. The Sanriku Coastal Road, which opened in 2021, has made it easier to access from Tono and Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, a...

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1. Let's know the location of Kamaishi

Kamaishi is located on the southern coast of Iwate Prefecture in Tohoku. Iwate Prefecture is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site ``Hiraizumi - Architecture, Gardens, and Archaeological Sites Representing Buddhist Land (Pure Land),'' as well as books that are considered to be one of the most representative books in Japanese folklore. There are many wonderful places to visit, including Tono, the setting for Kunio Yanagita's ``Tono Monogatari.''

Shinkansen stations and airports are located in the interior of Iwate Prefecture, so it took some time to access the coast, but the Sanriku Coastal Road and the Reconstruction Support Road will be fully opened in 2021. It has become much more convenient since then.

The Sanriku Coastal Highway is a 359km expressway that connects Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture to Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture.

Additionally, an expressway called Kamaishi-do was opened, which connects the inland city of Hanamaki, which has a Shinkansen station and airport, and the coastal city of Kamaishi.

Originally, the Tohoku Expressway ran between Sendai and Hachinohe, but the newly built Sanriku Coastal Road and Kamaishi Road are very convenient, as they are almost free to travel with the exception of some sections. However, there are no parking areas with gas stations on the Sanriku Expressway, and there are only a limited number of restroom locations, so if you need one, get off on the general road and use a roadside station.

2. Sendai and Sanriku tour model course

Here is an example of a route where you can tour Sendai and then take a rental car along the Sanriku Coastal Road to see the coastal towns. The Sanriku coastline is famous for its magnificent scenery created by the ria coastline and for its delicious gourmet food, where you can enjoy fresh seafood. In addition, facilities and earthquake remains remain in various places to pass down the Great East Japan Earthquake. Why not put "learning about disaster prevention" on your list of things to do on your trip to Tohoku?

Day 1

10:00 Enter the Sanriku Coastal Road from the Sendai Kohoku Interchange! (Paid section)

First, we rented a car in Sendai and headed to Matsushima.

10:30 Get off the Sanriku Coastal Road at Matsushima Kaigan Interchange and head into Matsushima Town.

Entsu-in is a building that enshrines the spirit of Mitsumune, the grandson of Date Masamune, and is designated as a nationally important cultural property.

12:30 Take the Sanriku Coastal Road again and get off at Ishinomaki Kanan Interchange and head towards Ishinomaki City.

Enjoy Ishinomaki gourmet food in the city for lunch! In Ishinomaki, we recommend Ishinomori Mangakan, where you can experience the world of Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of Kamen Rider.

🔳Ishinomori Manga Museum (2-7 Nakase, Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture 986-0213)

14:30 After enjoying Shotaro Ishinomori World, we will head to Rikuzentakata again on the Sanriku Coastal Road.

🔳The miraculous lone pine tree and the ruins of Rikuzentakata Youth Hostel

In Rikuzentakata, you can tour the remains of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, such as the Iwate TSUNAMI Memorial , the miraculous lone pine tree, and the ruins of the Rikuzentakata Youth Hostel. Learn about the destructive power of the tsunami and the lessons learned through a wealth of video materials. After the tour, take a break at the attached roadside station, Takada Matsubara. You can also buy special products from the Sanriku region.

17:00 After a break, head to Kamaishi.

18:00 Arrive in Kamaishi city via Kamaishi Chuo Interchange.

It takes less than an hour to get from Rikuzentakata to Kamaishi. There are many business hotels in Kamaishi, making it the perfect place to stay during your trip. After checking in to the hotel, let's go out for dinner. Hotels and restaurants are concentrated in the city center, making it very convenient for travelers.

For dinner, visit Isabi Sakaba Kamariba, which is lined with restaurants. You can enjoy a variety of seafood caught at the Sanriku fishing grounds while sipping on the famous local sake Hamachidori .

2nd day

9:30 After breakfast at the hotel, depart for sightseeing in Kamaishi!

We will visit the Earthquake Disaster Memorial Museum, Miraikan, which connects lives, located about 15 minutes by car from the city. In the Unosumai district where Miraikan is located, many people died due to the tsunami damage, but there are two facts: On the one hand, all the students under the school's supervision were able to evacuate from the tsunami. At Miraikan, you can see exhibits that focus on two things: the reasons why the damage occurred and the reasons why lives were saved.

11:00 Visit Nehama Beach

A 5-minute drive from Miraikan is Nehama Beach, which is known for its beautiful white sand and pine forests. Nehama Beach has long been a beloved beach for locals, but it lost its white sand due to tsunami damage and ground subsidence caused by earthquakes. In 2021, the restoration work on the sandy beach was completed, and it has regained its beautiful appearance. It is a place where you can relax and take a stroll through the pine forest, or sit on the white beach and listen to the sound of the waves rolling in.

12:00 Lunch time in Kamaishi city

Return to the city from the Nehama area and have lunch on the second floor of Uogashi Terrace facing Kamaishi Bay. Take a look at the menu and decide if you want Japanese cuisine with seafood or creative dishes with delicious pasta.

13:30 Return to Shin-Hanamaki Station or Hanamaki Airport!

From Kamaishi, you can reach Shin-Hanamaki Station on the Shinkansen and Hanamaki Airport in just over an hour. It is convenient to rent a car from a company that allows you to drop off your car at the station or airport.

In this article, we introduced a model plan for heading from Sendai to Kamaishi using a rental car, sightseeing along the Sanriku Coastal Road and learning about the earthquake disaster. Sanriku, dotted with unique towns, is one of the areas you can't miss when sightseeing in Tohoku. Please come to Sanriku once! !

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The entire city of Kamaishi is likened to a museum without a roof, and the history of modern iron manufacturing, which is a World Heritage Site, community development after the Great East Japan Earthquake, disaster prevention learning, which unravels the evacuation behavior of schoolchildren praised during the earthquake, fishery and forestry. , offers an experience of the primary industry of agriculture. Kamaishi DMC, a local DMO, uses these tourism resources to refine the exhibits at the museum and deliver them to everyone.

The information presented in this article is based on the time it was written. Note that there may be changes in the merchandise, services, and prices that have occurred after this article was published. Please contact the facility or facilities in this article directly before visiting. Some of our articles contain affiliate links. We kindly ask our readers to exercise careful judgement when making a purchase or booking a service online.

The contents on this page may partially contain automatic translation.

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