A Stop on the Coast in Kessennuma

We packed up and left...not early this morning. We had 40 miles to go to reach our next spot, Hamanasu Kaiyoukan, a hotel on the shores of the Pacific Ocean that was completely rebuilt after the tsunami destroyed the old building. 

Once we got out of the Ichinomaki metro area, the landscape reverted to the peaceful rice paddies and mountains of Touhoku. The was practically no wind, it was 75 and sunny, just a perfect day for biking. 

Along the Miyagi Cycling Route

The entire stretch from Ichinomaki to Kessennuma (and beyond) is part of the new Miyagi Cycling Route that was introduced during the rebuilding after the tsunami. Route 45, the only road that goes through the river valley in this region, now has...well...it has little blue lines telling you it's the cycling route. Sometimes it has a wider shoulder and some blue arrows to indicate to cars that bikes should be there. Today being Sunday and off-season, there was not much traffic on the road at all, so even with us having to ride on the main road for most of the day, it wasn't bad.

Speaking of roads. This region of Touhoku DOESN'T HAVE TRAINS! Like, there's no train station for miles, just buses. There are some wonderful new roads, straight and clean, well-paved that are for buses only. Maps kept trying to get us to break the law and ride down these forbidden roads, unaware that it was restricted. We did not try to ride them for many reasons, but chief among them was the tunnels and bridges were exactly wide enough for a single bus. If any bus did happen to run into us on their own private road, there's no escape.

That said, of course, we did not see a single bus use the special bus road the entire day. We did see plenty on the regular roads though.

The entire stretch we were on today was hit by the tsunami. All along the highway there are signs indication "Post Tsunami Inundation Section". Tsunami Inundation is, for those of you not up on your tsunami terms, the distance from the coast that a tsunami reaches.

At about noon we were looking for somewhere to get some drinks and sit in the shade when, as if on cue, we came across the Minamisanriku Sun Sun Shopping Village.

The octopus is the town mascot. 

After the tsunami, a lot of the village businesses were being run out of temporary shelters. In 2017 the permanent shops were finished, an all wood, solar powered open air marketplace. They had a large covered area with tables for dining, including sinks to wash up and public garbage cans (VERY rare in Japan). Every single restaurant in the village serves fish and seafood and nothing else. Being on the coast it was not surprising, but I was kinda hoping to find....anything. There was a Mini Stop in the village as well, so we have convenience store snacks (apple juice, bananas, etc) and of course

There were 5 or 6 places serving different types of ice cream

Back on the road, we made a stop at a Family Mart to pick up some provisions just in case. Just in case what, you ask? Well, the place we're staying tonight includes dinner and breakfast (there was no option for just a room). These places usually do not make anything I can eat, and you don't ask them to make something special for just you. That's not how Japan works. So, we'll go to dinner tonight and I'll try and eat anything I can, and I'll likely have another banana and some nuts for dinner.

Speaking of the hotel, it's pretty great.

Back of the hotel leading to the large public beach

Our room. Check out the view!

And we were in for a bit of a shock when we were checking out the room. Opening the bathroom door, we were greeted by トイレーちゃん.

The lighted bowl does go out after a moment. It does this every time it senses motion near it.

Before I get to the non-CoCo Curry food, I wanted to share a few "very Japanese" things we spotted on the way.

They got everyone together...

Tanuki Crossing. And yes, there were tanuki in the area.

So, about dinner. This may have been the best meal we've ever been served in Japan, and I could eat practically none of it. Have you ever had a 12 course meal? We sat down and they had the dinner menu on the table. It wasn't a choice of dishes, it was the list of what was being served tonight.

The first plate had a variety of appetizers, such as shark fin jelly, shark heart, sesame tofu, some vinegary vegetable, and mackerel. It was followed by a big old plate of sashimi and things went steadily downhill for me. When they kept bringing more and more food out, I started feeling really bad. I didn't want all of this to go to waste, but there was no way I was going to be able to eat it. I told the very nice waitress that I wasn't feeling well and was not going to be able to eat any more food so they would stop bringing me platters of fish.

Completely unironically I was quite proud of Sumi. She is not an adventurous eater and I wasn't there to share in the misery if it was not good, but she tried everything and gave it all a glowing review. So, my apologies to Chef Koichi Ito for not being able to enjoy his well-prepared food. Below is for those of you who love to eat vicariously. The tempura was eaten too fast for a picture.

Conger Pike Eel with Vinegar

Appetizers

Sanriku Seafood Platter

Swordfish and seasonal vegetables

Steamed Conger Eel

Herb-encrusted Swordfish

Braised Shark Fin

Wagyu Beef

Yuba Mitsuba

Crab and Scallop Rice Pot

Eggplant Ice Cream with Sake

Nothing but good things to say about the hotel and their staff. Next time any of you find yourselves in rural northern Touhoku, treat yourselves and stay here. As for us, it looks like the rain is holding off for at least another day, so tomorrow we'll meet up with our luggage in Ofunato and figure out if we're gonna keep biking or head back to Tokyo.