We are so lucky to share this passion of travelling independently on our trikes. We always have a general plan, which is open to change when we, or one of us, discover something else that we want to explore. Changing our plan of circling back to Osaka once we had finished the Pacific Coast Cycle Road at Choishi was a good decision. We would have missed so much if we hadn’t continued riding along the coast to Sendai. A bonus is that we haven’t had to ride up and down another mountain along this coast and that is a good thing.
A study of contrasts….the old and the new, side by side. We are always amazed by the incredible growth of vines and greenery in Japan. The older house has clearly succumbed to the greenery invasion, but this modern pristine building is free of growth except for the pole in the parking area. It will soon be completely covered.
We are in the home of this event which has been going strong for 1,000 years. Their pride in this historic event is reflected in tributes like this on bridges, signs and buildings.
We were riding on this quiet street to access the route by the ocean. This woman rushed out of her home, wanted to chat and then gifted us with two bottles of cold green tea. We returned the favour by giving her our business card and telling her as best we could what we are doing. Her eyes lit up when Barry told her we are 71. She is also 71 and she laughed with us about this connection. It never ceases to amaze us at the communication that is possible with limited shared language.
We are fascinated by trucks in Japan. The owners clearly take pride in their trucks which are beautifully presented, clean, buffed and shiny.We have seen a number of trucks with painted scenes like this .
The figures are called Jizos. They are those who achieve enlightenment but postpone Buddhahood to help others. They are guardians of travellers and children in this world and the next. Also, Jizos look over children who have died, because of miscarriage and .abortion. Red is a colour for expelling demons and illnesses. Mothers clothe the Jizos in red fabric.
The clam gathering area is a large lagoon separated from the ocean by a sandy spit. There was much damage from the earthquake in 2011. The tsunami also greatly damaged the sandbar causing it to rupture and creating a gap between the lagoon and the sea.
We had planned to ride the road on the sandbar which encases the lagoon, but we forgot. Such a shame, it would have been interesting. Post tsunami in 2018, the road on the sandbar was finally repaired. Guess we need to have a return visit.
The road to Watara was a joy…little traffic and newly paved. But after Watari, the road was very busy with big trucks. We could only take this for so long and decided to take a smaller road along the coast. It was a good decision as there was no traffic and we felt like we were on our own personal bike path.
We always receive a warm welcome and incredible service at Konbinis, but occasionally a worker takes it a step higher. This fellow was wonderful with everyone who walked in the door and seemed to be so at ease with his job. When Barry went to the counter, he engaged Barry in conversation and wanted to know all about us, our trikes and our trip. As we were about to leave, he came running and gave us 2 cold bottles of a new Fanta drink.
We made great time on the quiet road but the problem was that there were no shops or Konbinis. We were happy to see Vending Machines but disappointed that this only sold live worms for fishermen.
It is usually difficult to get a close photo of an egret in the rice fields as they are quite skittish and fly away. It was so quiet along this road that the egret stuck around. Yeah.
We saw these evacuation shelters atop man made hills at intervals along the coast. We discovered later that they had used wreckage from the tsunami for inside the hill, added top soil and constructed a shelter.
We could see the evacuation site from our path and took. a detour inland to check them out. We feel lucky that we didn’t continue on the busy highway as we would have missed this.
This is a typical line of defense against a tsunami which we are seeing. First the sea wall, then pine trees and cross crossed fencing that we think is to support the trees.
We are so glad we chose to turn when we did as it took us to the official Tsunami Memorial Park. We think it is a must see place if you are in the area. It does a fantastic job of helping you understand the scope of the tsunami, its impact on tens of thousands of people, their homes, jobs and infrastructure.
This shows the Michinoka Trail, a long distance hiking trail that follows the coast from Hachinohe City to Soma City.
It is very moving and emotional to visit this area. The statistics of people displaced, people who perished, lost homes and their communities. It is stunning to learn that the earthquake that caused the tsunami registered 9.0, the highest and most powerful recorded in Japan.
This is very interesting. The height of this cenotaph is 8 metres high. That is the height that the water reached in the tsunami. The bell has a rope so that you can ring the bell three times and say a prayer. The design of the Cenotaph represents people supporting each other. The stone monument on the left lists the names of those who died in the tsunami. On the right, to preserve the memory of the Great East Japan Earthquake for future generations, passing the feelings on to future generations.
Good planning to offer different ways to access the top. It is nice that one can walk up the steps, follow the path on a wheelchair or ride your trike to the top.
At the top of each hill is a shelter and benches which have emergency goods and can be used as a stove. As well, there is material that can be released from the roof to create a tent. There is solar lighting that can power a cellular phone in an emergency.
It has been quite an excellent day of riding and finding the Tsunami Memorial made for a sobering but meaningful experience. We stopped at a a Konbini for some much needed food and met this couple. She was super excited about our trikes….”sugoi..sugoi…They are also headed to Hokkaido for a stay in Sapporo.
It just got ugly on the road. We are forced to ride this busy road for now and the trucks are pretty close. We have gone from no traffic for most of the day to this .
Dormy Inns are known for their natural hot spring Onsens. This Dormy Inn is reputed to have the largest outdoor Onsen in their chain of hotels and it didn’t disappoint. As well as indoor pools, sauna etc, the outdoor Onsen had exceptional large pools of different temperatures, tall stone individual baths and was beautifully landscapes with plants, large rocks etc.
Time for ramen…each guest is allowed 2 bowls. Barry enjoyed this option.
We have had an incredible day…a long ride of 70 km, quiet roads, the ocean at our side and ultimately the Tsunami Memorial Park. We will not forget this day for many reasons. Foremost in our minds is the transformative experience of spending time at the Memorial Park and learning about the tsunami, understanding the devastation and its impact on so many people. It also made us appreciate the resilience and constructive nature of Japanese people who pull together, work hard, find ways to be more protected in the future and carry on. The memorial was about never forgetting the tragedy, learning from it and remembering those who perished..
We didn’t settle in to our hotel until 11 pm…a first for us. It has been such a good day of exploration and learning more about Japan and its people.
Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles) Total: 1,739 km (1,080 miles)
