Ishinomaki, Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture (off Tokyo) : July 18, 2018

I visited Ishinomaki City, about 40 km northeast of Sendai, for the first time in seven years.

The city was severely hit by the tsunami disaster after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. More than 3000 people were killed.

There were many destroyed houses in the city when I visited there in September 2011, six months after the disaster. The roads were covered with water in the central city. The riverbanks of Old Kitakami River were seriously damaged. The records are found in a blog page at "

Sendai, Ishinomaki@Tohoku" (Sept. 2011).

The situation has changed. The buildings have been redeveloped. The riverbanks have been reconstructed.

There are many statues of manga (comic) characters in the streets. Some trains are painted with manga figures. (See the top photo)

The figures are the products of famous manga artist Ishinomori Shotaro.

The city decided to promote tourism with manga power.

Ishinomori was born in neighboring Tome City and commuted to Ishinomaki to watch movies when he was young. 

There is a museum of him in an island in Old Kitakami River. 

I visited there. Masked Rider, one of his characters, was sitting in a riverside chair.

The municipal hospital, which once located in the port area, has been removed to central city.

The riverbanks have been redeveloped in some parts (See the 2nd photo from the top). Construction works were under way in other parts.

New facilities have been built to keep the memory of the disaster and to support the activities for better local communities.

This room exhibits hand-written newspapers issued after the disaster by local newspaper company Ishinomaki Nichinichi Shimbun. They did so as the printing machines were destroyed by the disasters.

I also visited an information center where people can ask questions on the disasters and recovery.

The staff said that the recovery in the rural areas of the city was not as fast as it was in the central city.

Leaving Ishinomaki, I visited Onagawa Town. It took about 30 minutes by train.

The town was completely destroyed by tsunami seven years ago.

They developed a modern commercial area in front of the railroad station. It attract tens of thousand of people from Ishinomaki and other cities when they hold a festival.

It is often talked nationwide as a successful example in redeveloping local communities. (See also the 3rd photo from the top)

Construction works continue in many places in the town.

Temporary houses still remain in front of the station.

The trains run along the coast of Mangoku-ura (seawater lake) between Ishinomaki and Onagawa. They produce good oyster and seaweed here.

I was impressed with the scenes from the train when I moved between Sandai and Ishinomaki.

Most parts of rice fields and residential areas near the sea were washed away by tsunami in Higashi Matsushima City. Railways and roads were destroyed. 

The railway reopened and the roads were redeveloped. Birds fly over wide rice fields now.

The seawalls have been reinforced in the Matsushima Bay area. (See the 4th photo from the top) I saw many big changes.