A Rainy Day in Miyagi Prefecture

Kyotokumaru No. 18, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

The fishing boat in the above photo is now being dismantled. Not too long after I visited Kesennuma, a vote was taken to decide the fate of the boat and the result was in favour of removing it. Unlike the pine tree of Rikuzentakata which died, was cut down, preserved and raised as a memorial, this boat will not remain to remind people of the devastation caused by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

My drive that soggy July day was sobering one. I started out in Ichinoseki, Iwate prefecture and made my way through Rikuzentakata, Kesennuma, Minamisanriku, Onagawa, Ishinomaki and on to Sendai. I took Route 45 for a good part of that trip. Along the way I passed plenty of signs which marked the upper limits of tsunami inundation, plots of land which looked like abandoned fields but were in fact foundations of houses and buildings, washed out railway bridges, and large compounds full of debris still being sorted out for removal. By the time I got to Ishinomaki I was both physically and mentally tired. Getting onto the highway was a respite of sorts. By the time I found parking and had checked into my hotel, I was pretty well exhausted.

In hindsight I'm not exactly sure why I undertook that leg of the trip. Going to Hiraizumi, Matsushima and Sendai are typical "touristy" things to do. Driving Miyagi's northeastern coastal road is not. I suppose I did it partly out of morbid curiosity, a desire to grasp the gravity of the devastation, and wanting to pay my respects to the victims. In the end I feel a small part grateful that the weather that day was bleak and wet as it intensified the emotional impact that passage along that route had on me.