It’s time for ‘Japan by Prefecture‘ again! This is the series that aims to provide the highlights of each prefecture of Japan, along with my personal favourites and suggestions from readers. This week, we’re looking at Iwate Prefecture (岩手県) (a little earlier than usual as I have a busy weekend ahead!). Iwate Prefecture is part of the Tohoku … Continue reading
With still a week left in Japan, on 2nd June I set out on one of my most complicated journeys. One thing I had been determined to do when I had begun planning my trip around Tohoku was to travel down the Sanriku Coast – the coast hit by the tsunami in 2011. It’s hard … Continue reading
I know, I know… I really need to get these posts finished! I’m not quite sure where the year has gone, but back in June I was exploring Kamaishi (釜石) in Iwate Prefecture (岩手県) and now it’s about time I told you about it. Kamaishi was not a place I had heard of until 2011, … Continue reading
On Sunday 1st June I made an early start from Tono and headed along the Kamaishi Line on a little train that only runs every two hours to a fishing and industrial town called Kamaishi (釜石). Kamaishi hadn’t been on my original list of places to visit in Tohoku, but as I was planning my … Continue reading
昔々あるところに Mukashi mukashi, aru tokoro ni… Once upon a time, in a certain place… I woke up in a land full of fairytales – Tono (遠野) in Iwate Prefecture. My guide, Matsumoto-san, came to pick me up from my hotel around 10:30am, and she brought with her a fantastic taxi driver, Suzuki-san, who was tasked with … Continue reading
After reading The Legends of Tono by Kunio Yanagita and Tales from a Mountain Cave by Hisashi Inoue I knew I simply had to visit Tono (遠野) in Iwate Prefecture. So, on Friday 30th May I continued my Tohoku adventure and headed towards Tono. After quite a bit of hanging around due to local line trains … Continue reading
Has it really been almost 5 months since I woke up in Naruko Onsen after two peaceful nights and set off on the next part of my adventure? Time flies, doesn’t it? I really must get a wriggle on and finish sharing all these stories! So, it was 29th May and, after a delicious breakfast … Continue reading
I have just spent the most incredible 4 weeks in Japan. As I’ve been travelling I’ve tried to feed you little snippets of what I’ve bee doing via this blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, but I have in no way covered it all. As time goes on I will be posting about certain aspects of my … Continue reading
I’ve seen so much today. Whilst travelling down the Sanriku coast I’ve seen things my eyes could hardly believe. Huge spaces where there should have been towns. I also went to visit the ‘Kiseki-no-ippon-matsu’ or ‘Miracle Pine’ in Rikuzentakata. It was pretty moving, especially with the wrecked building that has been left beside it. This … Continue reading
One more post for tonight. It would be impossible to travel around Tohoku and not think about the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. However, until I reached the coast today I had seen no evidence of damage, and everything seemed to be business as usual. Kamaishi was badly hit by the tsunami, and this … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 