iwate-tokyo

We were thinking about trying wanko soba but 4100 yen per person seemed a bit steep, so we just decided to hang out in the air conditioned mall in the station.

I bought myself a sandwich from Tregion Deli.

They had different sandwiches made with popular food items from different Tohoku areas...

The Iwate...used ja ja miso (from their ja ja men), chicken "ham", cheese and pickled red cabbage...I enjoyed this!

Satoshi bought a bento with uni (sea urchin), ikura, kaki

This trip, "someone" forgot to bring his meds...thankful we didn't run into any problems!

Since the beginning of the year?! the Tohoku Shinkansen has been having malfunctioning problems...our trip back to Tokyo was no different, we were just lucky that it happened at Ueno and not mid-way...

We want to go back to check out the areas north of Miyako.

Even though it has been 14 years since the big earthquake and tsunami, they are still rebuilding.

Thankful we were able to experience this area.

Hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as we did.

iwate day 3

The sunrise the next morning had more clouds than sun

Interesting things at the breakfast buffet...tried their tankaku curry...spicy with lots of beef flavor

A musubi making station...they limit you to two at a time...

Since I knew I wouldn't be able to eat two, I asked the woman making the musubi if she would make me one musubi with a little ume and a little wakame on it.

So delicious!

Other toppings were tuna mayo, sujiko (salmon roe in the sac) and mentaiko (spicy pollack roe)

Azuki batto...this was a sweet version of their local soup...except this didn’t have soup and was udon like pieces cooked with azuki, still interesting to try

found a pokemon manhole cover near the fish market

The tsunami inundated this whole area! and was right under this huge pedestrian walkway

loved the sheep art around Miyako

From Miyako to Morioka...we thought we could use our Iwate Free Pass but this area is only accesible by bus (separate fare!)...cute bus stop

From Morioka we used the Iwate Free Pass to travel by train.

Our first stop was Iwate Iioka to find the manhole cover for Kikuchi Yusei

And then we went to Mizusawa and had to take a taxi to Mizusawa Esashi to check out Ohtani Shohei's manhole cover

And then a taxi back to Mizusawa because the buses were not too frequent...

From Mizusawa we went to Hanamaki and found a pokemon manhole cover

Loved these statues too

Dinner was early (16:30) at Ieraishan

I had seen this shop on a J-drama (Konna tokoro de uragiri meshi 2)

It's a good thing we made reservations because he was sold out at 17:00!

1 serving is 15 pieces...these are a little smaller than most gyoza and are fried...700 yen (tax included) each

We ordered 2 servings (30 pieces)

There is an amuse bouche (tsukidashi)...moyashi with shoyu and karashi...200 yen (tax included) each

With beer and oolong tea...our bill was 2800 yen (tax included)

Another long (hot) day but we got to see and do all that we wanted to

Ieraishan

3-3 Futabacho

Hanamaki, Iwate

Closed Sundays, Wednesdays and Holidays

Hours: 16:00-20:00 (or until they run out)

*cash or pay pay (electronic payment)

Toyoko Inn South Exit

3-60 Moriokaekimaedori

Morioka, Iwate

Please look here for videos and photos

iwate day 2

The next morning, we woke up early and headed down to the pier
 

If you turn around, you can see how high the new sea wall is...the wall blocks the view of the sea for those living on the hillside

The wall in the foreground was the sea wall before the tsunami...the one in the background is the new sea wall.

On the pier, there was a mountain of oyster shells...I haven't seen something like this since the time we visited Lake Saroma in Hokkaido (pre-blog)

I can't remember if it was before or during breakfast but Mother Nature welcomed us to Rikuzentakata with an earthquake...boy was it long and loud!

Interesting things at breakfast...Kesen green tea shabu shabu

Thinly sliced pork for the shabu shabu

Miso soup with tofu and ogo, you don't see ogo used in many things in Tokyo

Rikuzentakata yuzu used for yuzu cha...there was also honey added to this.

From Rikuzentakata we took the BRT to Sakari...here we found a Pokemon manhole

Must be cool to see this kaki noren (curtain of persimmon) in person! 

From Sakari we took the Rias line to Kamaishi

There is a huge Kannon statue that we saw from the train (we'll need to check this out the next time!)

The photo I took of the Kannon was kinda creepy because the electric lines in the foreground look like fuzzy caterpillars

There was an area near the station that had these huge piles of wood!

And deer! 

I bought these thin cookies that the Santetsu railways were selling.

In the past, Santetsu railways were on the verge of bankruptcy and sold these cookies to help save their railway...and still sell them to this day.

These sesame cookies are delicious, super crispy.

They are sweet but also savory with the aonori (green laver) on them.

We got to ride this fancy train from Kamaishi to Miyako

Apparently Kuwait helped the railways after the tsunami.

Along this route, there were many tsunami memorials and the deer made the train stop suddenly several times

When we got to Miyako, we took a taxi to Jodogahama where we would be staying.

100 plus stairs down to the shore

Wear a bear bell...because they are around...eep!

Beautiful area...short video here.

This area was also hit by the tsunami, there is a visitor center and the 1st floor was destroyed

Sushi kaiseki for dinner...we had the whole restaurant to ourselves.

The restaurant is named "Odense" (oh-den-say) which means irrashaimase (welcome) in Iwate dialect

have you ever had ichigo ni? it has nothing to do with strawberries...

Abalone, sea urchin and ogo are used in a clear soup

Different and delicious

Another long day, but we saw a lot!

The Park Hotel Jodogahama

32-4 Hitachihamacho

Miyako, Iwate

saying goodbye

Sunday, we found out that Satoshi's uncle passed away

He played his violin at our wedding reception in Japan many moons ago

Satoshi couldn’t go to the wake yesterday but will attend the funeral and cremation today

We will miss his spunky character

tokyo-iwate

From Tokyo, it takes about 3 hours to get to Ichinoseki by Shinkansen

From Ichinoseki to Kesennuma it was about 1.25 hours on the Ofunato Line

(Kesennuma is actually in Miyagi prefecture.)

We didn't get to explore this area because we needed to catch our connecting bus...next time!

To get to Rikuzentakata you need to transfer to a bus called BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)

It took about an hour from Kesennuma to Rikuzentakata

The BRT has replaced the area of train tracks that was lost in the tsunami

We found the manhole cover for MLB's Roki Sasaki at the tourist information center

Nearby is the memorial for all those lost in the tsunami.

Seeing all the names etched into the black marble...I could feel all the sadness

We also found the Pokemon manhole cover nearby

From the tourist information center, we walked down to see the Miracle Pine

On the way is Tapica, which used to be their michi no eki (rest stop)

The brown signs on the sides of the building indicate just how high the tsunami was!

Where the miracle pine stands, there used to be 70,000 pine trees!

It is said that the youth hostel (the yellowish building in the background) nearby saved the miracle pine from being knocked down by the tsunami.

The tree died the same year as the tsunami but has been preserved for everyone to see.

It is so tall and was amazing to see!

The creator of Anpanman, Yanase Takashi also made a mosaic of the miracle pine.

We then walked along the  new sea wall...so hard to fathom that the tsunami took out this whole area!

At the new rest stop there is also a tsunami museum/memorial

Here you can learn about tsunami, what you can do in case of one and also see video of the events of the day Tohoku experienced the tsunami.

Stop at the pool to reflect, say a prayer and look out towards the ocean...

Dinner was an assortment of unusual seafood dishes...

Like scallop baked in cream...so rich but the scallop was cooked perfectly

Kani Batto...a soup dish that has pieces of dough dropped into the soup.

This version had crab leg in it

Hoya (sea squirt)...ugh! this was super bitter!

Manbow (sun fish) with sumiso (vinegar miso), a little tough but interesting to try.

The cucumber pickles were ono! had myoga on it too.

Harmonica is the dorsal fin of a mekajiki (swordfish)...this was cooked nitsuke style and amazingly gelatinous and flavorful

Dessert was vanilla ice cream topped with Rikuzentakata shoyu made into a mitarashi sauce....sweet salty goodness!

It was a long day, but we saw and did all that we intended to.

Hotel Sanyo

Fuppushi 155-6 Kesencho

Rikuzentakata, Iwate