When you are lucky in sightseeing in Matsushima, you sometimes come across blue impulse flight training. This is because there is an air base in Higashi-Matsushima town, which is adjacent to Matsushima. Suddenly a roar comes from the sky. However, Blue Impulse is busy on a business trip to events all over the country, and if you see it locally, you go to the air festival in August to be prepared for congestion.
Finding top gun talent is a daunting task. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to reach the entrance to the top gun without having the ability to be born.
F2 Fighter
The fighter is also just as delicate. It cannot take off and land even if a small piece of debris falls on the runway. When the Matsushima Air Base was swallowed by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake, 18 fighters(F2) were swallowed along with it. After the earthquake, they would have been better to take off before the tsunami and escape from the difficulties, outsider thought, but unless the fighter is prepared to take off and the runway is clear, it will not take off. Then, the reason why scrambling is possible is that it is always idling. What a delicate thing !
On the other hand, Blue Impulse was on a business trip to Kyushu Shinkansen opening event at that time, so they have escaped the tsunami.
Even so, the east-west main runway at Matsushima Air Base receives a strong crosswind, but is that okay for a delicate fighter?
When I got off the approach from Shiogama Shrine, I saw a large warehouse of sake brewery. Since it was founded nearly 300 years ago, it is a company with an even longer history than Kamei, which I visited earlier.
Everywhere Shrines and sake breweries have existed as a pair for a long time, but due to advances in brewing technology, the sake brewery entered a period of great competition, which is a great story for sake lovers. The taste of Daiginjo, which produces a refreshing taste by polishing sake rice to the extreme to remove miscellaneous tastes, becomes similar among any sake brewery without fear of misunderstanding. Therefore, I think that Junmaishu, which does not polish so much rice, represents the taste of the brewery.
Sake production is a complicated process in which a two-step process of saccharification of rice starch with koji and alcoholic fermentation of sugar with yeast is carried out in one barrel. Sufficient alcoholic fermentation of sugar results in dry sake, its current fashion, but it does not retain the umami(rich taste) of rice. On the other hand, sake which often wins the gold medal in the world is not suitable for in-meal liquor because its umami is so distinctive. This balance is difficult, and the true sense of Toji(Master of sake in each brewery) is questioned.
Although wine and sake are common in that they are not distilled, the wine is only fermented of its sugar, so the performance of the grapes harvested is the most important. So vintage is everything. On the other hand, sake is all about delicate manufacturing methods.
If you go back to Uragasumi Sake Brewery, you can buy a small glass, and with this you can have 3 kinds of tasting, so please find the one you like and buy it. However, buying a full bottle here will affect later actions.
Japanese sweets and tea utensils
There is another well-established store here that I want to stop by. It is a Japanese confectionery shop “Tanrokuen” that sells Shihogama. When you put it in your mouth, it melts and you can feel the scent of salt and perilla. As before, shrines and Japanese confectionery shops are paired everywhere. However, it seems that it has made history by changing the industry since the beginning. Speaking of Japanese sweets, Japanese tea is always associated with it, and it is clear that tea utensils are now sold mainly there.
Detour for lunch (Le Nid d’hirondelle in Higashi-Matsushima Town)
Higashi(East)-Matsushima Town has the same place name as “Matsushima”, but because it is off Matsushima Bay with a lot of small islands as a breakwater, it was directly affected by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Although the coastal land became salty and therefore not suitable for cultivation, private company KDDI Evolva, contact center services for telecommunication business, is taking on the challenge of smart agriculture such as high quality tomato production by hydroponics, land restoration and employment of people with disabilities. They are really working on making the situation plus rather than returning it to zero from minus in Nobi district !
A new town is being rebuilt on the opposite bank of the Nobi district, and there is a restaurant worth a detour in it. That is “Le Nid d’hirondelle“.
Since the air base is located in Higashi- Matsushima Town, you could see Blue Impulse training flights sometimes near here.
Film director Makoto Shinkai said he got the idea for the movie “Your name”(subtitle: I’m always searching for something, for someone.) from the disaster-affected Yuriage. The coastal area of Yuriage and the port town were all swallowed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the situation was seen by all the people in the live broadcast via helicopter from the sky without doing anything. According to the story of the movie, two people, who transcend time and space, cooperate with each other on how to call residents to evacuate, although the types of disasters are different.
yuriage seawall1
yuriage momument
In the old days, a row of beautiful cool pine trees that continue along the coastline collapsed due to the tsunami, and now triple tide walls continue to the dry ground. In addition, the residents are returning by raising the height of the land. Morning markets are held on Sundays and public holidays from 6:00 to regain the old bustle, and the general public can participate in the auction no charge and get cheap and fresh products(see cover photo).
breakfast1 at yuriage
breakfast2 at yuriage
yuriage morning market
yuriage port
Michinoku Coastal Trail and Natori Information Center
This trail connects the Pacific coast from Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture to Soma in Fukushima prefecture. Walking distance is 1000km ! Natori Information center is located at Yuriage and not only for breaks, you can use showers and laundry there. >read more about Michinoku Coastal Trail in Hachinohe
Sanriku suffered Tsunami disasters many times. Each time, a stone monument was set up at the highest point where the tsunami reached, and lessons remained for individuals to run away in isolation, regardless of their families, it is said ‘Tendenko’. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, this lesson was put to good use, and about 600 students of elementary school and junior high school took the lead in evacuating to the hills at Unosumai region in Kamaishi City, saving many lives including residents. It is said to be a miracle of Kamaishi. The Unosumai Stadium, the venue for the Rugby World Cup 2019, was built on the site of the schools swallowed by the Tsunami. Test match Japan vs Fiji and World Cup match Fiji vs Uruguay were held with full audience.
rugby and unosumai stationline out in test match Japan vs Fiji
Sanriku is still on the way of recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Also, the speed of recovery varies from region to region. It is also influenced by topographical factors. As I mentioned the post of ‘Kita-Yamazaki cliff’ (>read more), the northern half of Sanriku is a raised coast and the other is a sinking coast, that is the real ‘rias’ coast with deep natural coves and natural good ports. The tsunami becomes huge toward the cove and the damage is great.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the houses in small fishing ports were moved to higher ground and the lands of towns in the cove were raised, but if the scale was large, the construction took time, and the evacuated residents could not return anymore when the land was cleared. I feel sad when I see vacant land here and there…..
vacant space in Otsuchi town on the raised land
If you finally went to Kesennuma at the southern end of Southern Sanriku, please drop by at the Kesennuma Memorial. The school building of Kesennuma Koyo High School, which was affected by the earthquake and tsunami, remains as it is. The tsunami that rushed up to the 4th floor, the car that had flown into the classroom and turned over, textbooks and upper shoes scattered on the floor are left as they are. I feel a strong will not to weather and forget the memory of the disaster. Come once.
car crushed by tsunami on the 3rd floor at Kesennuma Memorial
For those who directly return to Morioka from Miyako
In Morioka, try jaja-men(noodles) and after that not forget to order chi-tan-tan(egg soup) using the leftovers of the jaja-men. Morioka feels continental culture in food and festival costumes.
The sea near Iwate Prefecture is a good fishing ground where cold and warm currents intersect. In addition, the ‘rias’ coast has deep natural coves created by the sinking of mountains, making it a natural good port, and the fishing industry has developed in combination with good fishing grounds.
I learned the above when I was in elementary school, but I came here to learn that the northern half is actually a raised coast. The coast of Kita-Sanriku has a series of cliffs, and there is no very good natural port. It means that there are many things you can not understand unless you come.
nedari hama walking course
The Nedari-hama promenade is a short, but refreshing, private beach-like shore and is a part of Michinoku Coastal Trail
Anmo-ura cliff and waterfall that directly falls into the sea (photo below)
anmo ura
Kita-Yamazaki cliff viewpoint, where eastern wind blows over the cold current from the north, becomes thick fog and you can’t see anything easily, but if you don’t give up, you can open your view as you descend to the observatory below the cliff. However, going uphill is tight.
Fudai Sluice: The scars of the Great East Japan Earthquake
fudai water gate tsunami overflown
The Fudai sluice on the way to Kita-Yamazaki was built from the lessons learned by the victims of the two tsunamis. Convincing the opposition, a 15.5-meter-hight lock was built at 300 meters from the river mouth over a 12-year period. The tsunami exceeded this during the Great East Japan Earthquake, but the town of Fudai located upstream of the floodgate escaped.
National railways have been privatized and local lines have been abolished. With the advent of the society of motorization, the abolition of local lines continues. But wonder why, the train running in the countryside even on a single-car train gives us courage. That is Sanriku Railway, we call ‘Santetsu’ with friendliness. It run on the remaining section five days after the Great East Japan Earthquake, also overcoming the damage caused by the typhoon in 2019 and impressing us.
bridge view from trainseawall
It was originally built to deliver goods in the event of a disaster, so there are few sections where you can see the sea from the train window. What’s more, unfortunately, the section where the sea can be seen is valuable because of the construction of a seawall to prevent a tsunami after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Rikuchu-noda station to Horinai station is a valuable section, so take a look at the sea. Note that the station name is also included in the drama settings. It’s complicated……
scallop and sake at noda
Salt, scallops and kelp are recommended in this region.
