Over 500 People Join Michinoku Coastal Walk Event in Natori, Miyagi Pref.; Tracing Memories of 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami

By Futoshi Mori / Japan News Senior Writer

14:37 JST, May 27, 2025

NATORI, Miyagi ― An event to walk the Michinoku Coastal Trail, a 1,000-kilometer-long path on the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region, was held on Sunday in the Yuriage district of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture. The event was held to commemorate the victims of the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and help people feel the area’s latest signs of recovery, such as its new buildings and young cherry trees. I joined in and walked the about 4-kilometer course.

The cold rain that had been falling early in the morning had fortunately stopped by the 9:30 a.m. start time. A total of 531 participants from 12 prefectures, including the Tohoku region and Tokyo, gathered at the Yuriage Community Center, the starting point for the “Michinoku Coastal Trail Walk in Natori with Pokémon Local Acts.” After the opening ceremony, participants started on two courses, one approximately 4 kilometers long and the other approximately 8 kilometers.

The trail connects the Pacific coastline of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in the Tohoku region. Last year, I walked an 8-kilometer course at a similar event held in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, which is the northernmost point of the trail. In contrast to the scenic coastline and natural surroundings of the Hachinohe course, this time I walked along the embankment of the Natori River estuary and the redeveloped flatlands where reconstruction continues to progress. The short course, which turns around at the Natori Trail Center 2 kilometers from the starting point, can be completed in about an hour even at a leisurely pace.

However, the story behind the trail is significant. Immediately after the starting point of the walk, the embankment was lined with a commercial facility called Kawamachi Terrace Yuriage. Opened in 2019, this facility consists of three wooden single-story buildings with restaurants and souvenir shops offering an open space overlooking the Natori River where visitors can enjoy a meal. It has become a new landmark in Yuriage, which suffered many casualties in the disaster.

According to the report compiled by the city of Natori after the earthquake, there were 884 victims in the city as of Jan. 31, 2014. Of these, 701, or about 80%, were residents of the Yuriage district. Many of them died in the tsunami that struck about an hour after the earthquake.

As I descended the embankment and walked along the flat ground, a white monument came into view. It was the Natori City Disaster Memorial Park, which preserves the memory of the earthquake and tsunami. The 8.4-meter-tall monument serves as a memorial. I approached and looked up at it. It was the same height as the tsunami that struck this area on the day of the disaster. At the base of the monument were stone plates engraved with the names of victims, and several participants stood there, staring intently.

“Minoru Endo.” I found a familiar name. He worked as a news editor when I was a new reporter at the Yokohama bureau. In an instant, his face and voice, the red pen corrections he made on my unpolished articles, and a memory of eating grilled fish set meals together at a nearby eatery flashed through my mind. He had already retired by the time of the disaster and was living here. I stood there for a moment of silence.

Along the canal in the middle of the course, there was a spot where young cherry trees lined the banks. These are the “Natori Recovery Cherry Trees,” which were grown from buds taken from cherry trees that survived the tsunami and bloomed after the earthquake. I am sure, in 10 years, these trees will be in full bloom and draw many people together.

Walking events at three more locations

The Michinoku Coastal Trail Walk event will be held in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture on June 8, Hachinohe on July 6, and Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture on Oct. 5. For more details, please visit the event website (https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/michinokucoastaltrail/).

The event is organized by the Ministry of the Environment and others, sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others, and supported by Asics Trading Co. and Japan Airlines Co.