We stopped to buy petrol at what was probably the northern edge of Miyako's local govt area. The petrol station was right on the coast but very high up and quite ok. There was a junior high school opposite that was also quite ok, and there were kids outside playing tennis despite the stiff wind.
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Looking to the coast from the petrol station - concrete blocks are broken, but otherwise the beach has been cleared.
I am not sure what the the story of the boats is, but they would not have been there like that after the tsunami |
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| The bridge across - taken from the petrol station |
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| Jodogahama 2006 |
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| Jodogahama 2006 |
Jodogahama, part of the
Rikuchu Kaigan National Park, was one of the highlights of our trip in 2006. I really wanted to go back and see it again, particularly after the earthquake. Driving along this time, it seemed that the cliff areas were ok, debris, but that will clear in time, with Jodogahama though, I wondered whether there would be anything much of the sand left. This is a youtube clip of the destruction on Jodogahama - the voice is in Japanese, but the pictures give enough of a sense of it.
The clean up effort has been phenomenal.
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| Jodogahama May 2011 |
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| May 2011 |
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| The restaurant on the beach front has been washed out and is now boarded up. |
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When I was up there I thought the water had receded massively,
it has somewhat, but that impression is exacerbated by the loss of
vegetation. |
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| The road way has been washed out |
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The concrete paths remain in great condition, though the foundations
have been washed out. |
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| The rocks are still beautiful. |
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Looking at this, I feel very hopeful that the tourist industry
will be able to reconstruct. |
3 comments:
Hello! I came across your blog because I am trying to find out if the road to Jodogaham beach is accessable. We are from Misawa, and would like to make a day trip and visit there. Any information about the area would be very helpful! Thank you!!
Hi, I guess you are associated with the base there? The US military have been fantastic in the area.
We travelled down from Hachinohe to Kamaishi no problem at all. Jodogahama is perfectly accessible.
The road to the bottom where tour buses used to go wasn't open to traffic - but I don't think it was when I was there in 2006 either.
There is no problem at all to walk down there. I think the sign says 700 m? It's a hill but not onerous walking at all.
I don't see any problem for a day trip other than being sensitive. R.45 has never been fast traffic, there will be almost no scope for overtaking on the road.
Swimming is probably fine in theory, but I wouldn't, just out regard for the feeling that the sea would still be regarded as tomb I expect.
But I wouldn't let that stop you going. There is not much in the way of local industry to support, but if you can do. Otherwise, it's a beautiful part of Japan.
Just a follow up - I'm assuming you are familiar with the extent of devastation in the area.
If you had time to make it two days and spend a day volunteering, there are local volunteer centres you can call in to and they can allocate you work to do.
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