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Nearly empty roads, meant we could stop regularly in the bays and inlets.
In some places, the road opens a bit too and you can give it a bit of a squirt.
Part of the new-height tsunami wall, and auto-closing doors now built down the coast.
With evacuation stairs to the right.
Some buildings survived with minor damage, such as this restaurant a bit higher above the beach.
We stopped, and sat outside for a Covid-safe lunch of sake-oyakodon (salmon-parent-child-rice-bowl).
The juxtaposition of the third image and the YouTube video is simply chilling...
Indeed!
Though we've been back a number of times, it is always confronting to know that 20,000 people died on 3/11.
While the infrastructure damage is fascinating, and in a number of cases preserved as a memorial, spending money and giving back to the communities is one of the best ways to get stuff back on track.
Even ten years later...
This might be asking too much, but my ignorance of the country is embarrassing...Might you be able to post a map of Japan with your route highlighted? All of this is so intriguing.
This might be asking too much, but my ignorance of the country is embarrassing...Might you be able to post a map of Japan with your route highlighted? All of this is so intriguing.
NP; two min on Google Maps, and we have:
We went up the coast to Iwaki, then looped clockwise to Hachinohe, then came back home via Ishinomaki, Zao and Tochigi.
There's about 400km missing from the total trip length on the map, as we took a number of side diversions, but this should give you an idea?
At Ishinomaki, one of the worst hit areas om 3/11 parts of the memorial park still under construction.
Large parts of the town were wiped out, and have never been replaced.
In some places, new roads have been built, and some buildings remain.
This one has a red line on the top of the elevator equipment room, that marks the height of the tsunami.
Adjacent to the port, one of the Taisho-era buildings that survived.
Possibly due to its sturdy stone construction.
Nearby though, a school wasn't so lucky.
Most staff and students were able to be evacuated, but some took shelter on the top floor.
While the area has been cleaned up, much of the damage to the buildings has been left, including the mess inside from the waves.
You can walk the interiors, and it is shocking to see the main building, the damage to the near top from floating debris, knowing people were on the roof, wondering how much higher the wave would get...
Thank you for posting the map. Now I'll go back to the beginning of the thread and hopefully have a better understanding of your route and the topography. Amazing images...Tells the story well.
I have vacationed to Japan twice. My brother and his wife lived outside of Tokoyo for a couple of years. So I particularly enjoy your postings. These last ones of the damage of 3/11 made me search out more videos. Really horrible. Also, thanks for posting the map.
Thank you for posting the map. Now I'll go back to the beginning of the thread and hopefully have a better understanding of your route and the topography. Amazing images...Tells the story well.
No problems!
There's another list of touge buried up there somewhere too, with some great vids as well.
Originally Posted by dbarry
I have vacationed to Japan twice. My brother and his wife lived outside of Tokoyo for a couple of years. So I particularly enjoy your postings. These last ones of the damage of 3/11 made me search out more videos. Really horrible. Also, thanks for posting the map.
You can disappear down the video rabbit hole of tsunami videos if you're not careful, as I've done that a number of times myself.
I then end up dreaming of being caught in a tsunami...
The good thing about Japan vacations though, is you can have 10,000 and never do the same thing.
Here, we leave the coast at Ishinomaki and drive inland in search of another famed touge.
Taking the expressway for a short run South, we followed this out-of-area retired couple in their Roadster.
Not quite sure what they were listening to, but the passenger was bopping along to something, and often threw her arms in the air like she was dancing the crazy dance.
It was fun to watch...
Leaving the expressway, we turned inland onto the plains and headed into the mountains again.
I forget why, but this is a famed JR loco of some sort - a Bo-Bo?
Mock police car light sets are a common sight in many places across Japan.
But this was the first time we had seen a whole police car parked as a speeding deterrent.
The license plate is '110', the Japanese equivalent of '000', '112', or '911' in Western countries.
The only day it rained, and we enjoyed the smells of the wet forest.
This minka had an elaborate roof, and a great outlook over the rice fields to the misty mountains.
Getting into the mountains, we plotted the navi for a route over one of the dams in the area.
Stopping in the cool mountains, with the mists softening the noises, it was quiet and serene.
No other cars were about, so we parked on the dam wall and looked out over the valley.
We joined a relatively bigger road for the afternoon leg to our overnight accommodation...
After the previous day's rain, we awoke to clear blue skies, and a change of film.
The six pack of Portra was finished, so it was into a few rolls of Ektar 100 left in the bag for the blue skies.
Taking the time to set up a shot of a local torii, we were met with a stream of locals coming off a small touge.
This Midget brapping its way down, and off to breakfast we assume, was pretty neat.
A squadron of sport bikes soon came off the same touge.
We had to make a U-turn though, to grab an expressway South, into the mountains in the distance.
Our first stop was a parking area, looking back down into the valley, under a bridge we would soon traverse.
The road climbed further, and with the main part of the 30km Bandai Azuma Skyline above the treeline, we had a few more km to go.
Volcanic activity, with steam vents and similar across the mountain face, keeps the vegetation stunted.
While we traveled quickly on some of the lower parts, we slowed down on the upper reaches - to enjoy the view, but also because going off the sometimes uneven surface here would have been dramatic.
The fence on the right is to stop falling rocks hitting vehicles.
With steam vents off to the upper left, the smell of sulfur in the air was strong.
An old vent cone.
The views from the top are spectacular, and this section then runs into the Umimi Pass, and there are many more touge in the area, and we hope to journey back.
The area has its own homepage, and here's Toyota's summary of the Bandai Azuma Skyline:
If you're interested in touring Japan, Fukushima-ken makes a great destination.
The five minutes to watch the GT86 vid is also worth it, as it gives a great summary of the touge.
From here in the UK, (a 987.2 S owner) i’ve always wanted to go to Japan, not for tourist stuff, but especially for the car culture and the local culture.
i really appreciate the effort and time you invest with this thread, i for one, really love it. Thanks.
From here in the UK, (a 987.2 S owner) i’ve always wanted to go to Japan, not for tourist stuff, but especially for the car culture and the local culture.
i really appreciate the effort and time you invest with this thread, i for one, really love it. Thanks.
Hai!
Car culture in Japan is unique.
There's plenty written about it in the West, some of it even true!
Shaken stories are generally false, as are speed runs on the Wangan.
But, if you're into cars, this is the place - everything from Amerisha (American cars) to Zonda. That's A to Z, not bottom to top.
Here are some more general pics...
A typical car culture in Japan observation here; race Supra replica (proud of history), new Boxster (Euro fans), Europa (kyusha from anime), GR Yaris (enthusiast manufacturer), and a 3.6 Turbo.
Everything is embraced equally (except perhaps those that drug cats for social media likes).
This Moon-equipped March is one of the coolest machines I've seen in a while.
Total style!
McLaren mixing it with the trucks in Yokohama.
When was the last time you saw hand-painted pin stripes on a GT4?
Wangan Cayman.
Shibuya Cayman.
Yamate Tunnel.
Heading South past Haneda on the way home... See ya!
Certainly, a lot of wheel!
I wonder if it ever gets tracked?
Continuing South, we stopped at an old onsen town for lunch.
Stone kura are a rare sight, especially so elaborate, and this one has been beautifully maintained.
It looked like it had outlasted a number of main houses, and would likely still be standing many years into the future too.
We wondered what family treasures it held...
These two kura were nicely twinned.
We had booked an overnight stay in a reformed kura nearby, and were surprised when a week or so later Tokyo Lama posted this from the same hotel:
11-11-2021, 01:22 AM
