3 Day Trip Hiking the Michinoku Coastal Trail along the Sanriku Coast

Located along the Pacific Ocean in northeastern Japan, the Sanriku Coast is known for its rugged and handsome coastlines and coastal scenery, as well as for its fresh seafood. The Sanriku Coast spans the three prefectures of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi in the Tohoku region. In 2011, it was devastated by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters to hit Japan in recent decades. The ensuing tsunami destroyed many towns and villages along the Sanriku Coast, and thousands of lives were lost in the disaster. The road to recovery has been an ongoing process, with the reconstruction of towns and residents rebuilding their lives. A new development born from this recovery process is the Michinoku Coastal Trail, an approximately 1,000 km long walking trail connecting Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture to Soma in Fukushima Prefecture, which was conceived to connect people and towns along the route. My name is Raina Ong, staff writer for JapanGuide.com, and over the next three days, I'll be walking some of the best sections of the Michinoku Coastal Trail and experiencing some of the other highlights of the Sanriku Coast. Here's the plan. On day one, we follow the coast by train and walk two particularly scenic parts of the Michinoku Coastal Trail before heading to our accommodation for the night. On day two, after a morning walk along the coast, we'll pick up the rental car, take a boat to explore an uninhabited island and visit an excellent memorial museum about the tsunami. Day three, our last day, is spent hiking more of the coastal trail on a sacred island before visiting a reconstructed port town. Our journey ends in Sendai, where we drop off our car. So follow along as we uncover the wild and weathered Sanriku Coast, a three-day trip hiking along the Michinoku Coastal Trail. Day one. After arriving at Hachinohe Station, we make our way to the start of the Michinoku Coastal Trail. From there, we walk the first nine kilometres off the trail, following the coast to Tanesashi Kaigan Station. From where we'll get on the train, changing once at 9 o'clock to Tanohata Station. We get back on the trail and walk about seven kilometres of the Kitayamazaki section, popularly known as the Coastal Alps, before taking the train to Miyako, where we will be spending our first night. The Michinoku Coastal Trail spans about a thousand kilometres and I'm here on Kabushima, where the trailhead is, and I'm really excited to begin my journey. Let's go! My walk ends at Tanesashi Kaigan Station, from where I take trains to Tanohata, my next destination. Along the way, the train makes a couple of stops on bridges for passengers to enjoy the scenery. I've had a good rest on my two-hour train ride and I'm gonna take a short taxi ride to the start of my next hike along the Kitayamazaki section of the Michinoku Coastal Trail. The section offers views of some epic sea cliffs, a number of beautiful, almost private beaches, and two tunnels which the locals carved by hand about 60 years ago. My route also includes the trail out from Umiyoshi Beach, which students who were cleaning the beach on March 11th used to get to safety away from the water after the earthquake hit. It must have been a confusing and nerve-wracking time for the students. I cannot even begin to imagine the emotions and feelings they must have felt. Some ruins and reconstructions of buildings devastated by the tsunami can be seen along the coast, one of which is the ruins of a seawall that was left behind as a sober reminder to visitors and future generations of how strong the tsunami was and can be. After that, we head back to Tanohata Station to take the train to Miyako Station, which is not far from our hotel for the night. After 50 minutes on the I'm at my accommodation right now, and this place looks absolutely beautiful. I had two big hikes and I'm super hungry, so I'm gonna have some dinner, go for a bath, bed. See ya! Day two. We start the day with a morning stroll along the trail around Jodogahama Beach before picking up our rental car. Then we drive to the town of Yamada where we'll take a fishing boat to check out some oyster and scallop rafts before kayaking around a small uninhabited island. After that, we get back in the car and head to the Iwate Tsunami Memorial before carrying on to our accommodation at the edge of a peninsula for our second night. On my way to Yamada, we'll be getting on a boat to see a scallop farm and after that, go kayaking around an uninhabited island. I think it's gonna be fun. Oysters and scallops are some of the main seafood that is harvested in the waters in the town of Yamada, and their distinct rafts dot the waters in the bay. I signed up for a farm tour and was treated to a crash course in oyster and scallop aquaculture. So on this tour, we get to eat raw scallops and the boatman is going to prepare them for us now. Perfect. These are like perfect. Not far from the oyster and scallop rafts is the small Holland Island where visitors can go kayaking and swimming. It takes about 30 minutes to kayak around the island and the island is a great side trip for those who want to see the coast from a different angle. Kayaking and I think I got like super brown but we're heading back to land now and we're going for lunch. Everything in this seafood bowl is from Yamada, the town that we're in right now, and it's as fresh as you can get. Can't wait to dig in. The Iwate Tsunami Memorial is a museum and It stands in the city of Rikuzentakata, where massive tidal waves of up to 13 metres swept away the entire city centre. Visiting the Iwate Tsunami Memorial really drove home the reality of the disaster. The exhibits lay plain the force of the tsunami and document the emergency response and subsequent rescue efforts. One cannot even begin to imagine the anguish of everyone caught in the disaster, the survivors and those who perished. From the museum, visitors can continue their visit to the park where several ruins and monuments from the tsunami remain. I'm back in a car and I'm headed to my accommodation for tonight. It's around 140 kilometres or about a two and a half hour drive from the tsunami museum. It looks like seafood everything for On our last day, we drive to Ayukawa port and take the boat to the sacred island of Kinkasan, where we hike to the summit of Mount Kinkasan. Afterwards, we visit the port town of Onagawa, which was badly hit by the tsunami, and walk through its town centre. Our journey ends in Sendai, where we drop off our car. The island of Kinkasan is synonymous with Kinkasan Shrine, which enshrines the god and goddess of gold. It is said that the shrine was established over a thousand years ago to celebrate the first mined gold in Japan. I've just arrived in Kinkasan and I'm going to visit the shrine first and then head up to the summit of the mountain. Kinkasan became known to be one of the highly ranked sacred places in the Tohoku region and drew many pilgrims to its hallowed grounds. Today, visitors can continue on the Michinoku coastal trail to the top of the mountain and be treated to scenic views. Wild monkeys and deer roam the island freely, adding to the island's rugged, offbeat charm. While the animals are generally peaceful, hikers should look out for other wildlife like leeches and ticks, which can be found on the mountain. I had a great hike up Kinkasan and I'm on my way to Onagawa, which is about an hour away. Onagawa is a fishing town known for its delicious and fresh seafood. A large percentage of the town was wiped out during the 2011 tsunami and reconstruction works have been ongoing. Some of the first few public facilities to be completed included the train station by noted architect Ban Shigeru and the shopping promenade just across from the station. I just arrived in Onagawa, my last stop for this trip. Now the former town centre was completely destroyed by the tsunami on March 11th and the town that we see today was built over a period of five years and was raised by an average of about eight meters. I'm going to be walking down the beautiful promenade and doing my bit in supporting local businesses. Let's go! Further down closer to the waterfront lie the remains of a former police box, which was toppled and wrecked by the tsunami and left as a stark reminder of the disaster. Thanks for joining me. I hope this video has been enjoyable and perhaps even inspires some ideas, should you decide to plan a trip to the Sanriku coast. For more information or to watch another video, click the links on the screen now or head over to japan-guide.com, your comprehensive up-to-date travel guide first-hand from Japan. Thanks for watching. Be sure to subscribe and click the notification bell for more videos about Japan. Happy travels!