#goishi coast

[eztouringjp]

[travel-journal-from-shirokane]

Genbikei, Scenic Spot(Iwate, Japan) 厳美渓★★

Genbikei was the final point of our trip to travel around Geibikei, Goishi Coast, Akiu Onsen, Ginzan Onsen, and Naruko Onsen (^o^)

I think it’s just the art of nature (^o^)v

猊鼻渓、碁石海岸、秋保温泉、銀山温泉、鳴子温泉と巡った今回の東北旅行、旅の締めくくりはここ厳美渓(^o^)

まさに自然の芸術ですね(^o^)v

[booyon02]

碁石海岸（岩手県大船渡市）

[s-a1019]

May 2017

#photography#olympus pen e-p5#m.zuiko digital ed 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 ez#japan#iwate#ōfunato#goishi coast#pacific ocean#bw#black and white#monochrome#nature#black-tailed gull#umineko#写真#日本#岩手県#大船渡市#碁石海岸#太平洋#白黒#モノクロ#自然#ウミネコ

[people-of-iwate]

Hirofumi Ogawa of Ofunato City Mr. Ogawa is the president of the Goishi Coast Resthouse, a restaurant and souvenir shop with a fantastic view of the Goishi Coast of Ofunato City. He came up with sanma ramen, a bowl of ramen noodles topped with a delicious piece of grilled fish, in order to drive up interest in the area. Now this unique ramen draws people from all over the world to Ofunato.

“When you think of Ofunato, what kind of food comes to mind? We have oysters and persimmons, but they’re everywhere in Japan. Same with wakame seaweed. Is there anything we’re number one at? Well, we have the largest catch of sanma (Pacific saury fish) in mainland Japan. But it’s hard to come up with an interesting recipe for sanma – you have to tone down the fishiness. Well, I thought, sanma is a fish for the common people. The common people’s fish should be served in a common people’s meal. And what is that? Ramen noodles. How about putting sanma and ramen together? So I tried that and… it was so bad. They didn’t go together at all. I tried a number of different things – cutting the fat, grilling the fish to get a nice char, adding a special ingredient… It took me a year until I finally came up with something everyone loves! You’ll have to come by and guess our secret ingredient.” 

Bowls of sanma ramen

“I asked other shops if they wanted to create their own spin on sanma ramen. Contacted 36 restaurants. You know how many responses I got? Zero. So I said, you should all come by to eat my sanma ramen. No one came. Okay, I’ll go to them. I would go to each restaurant, look at the menu, and see what people were ordering. I would order their best dish. And I would say, that’s good, but I wonder if you could make it this way? I would visit so often that the restaurants would get used to me as a customer, and finally they would sit down and ask, ‘okay, okay, what is it that you want me to do?!’ I’d finally say, hey, if you add some sanma to this, it would be sanma ramen! One by one, I got restaurants to join me. It took me a year to get 12 restaurants. That whole year, I never had dinner at home - my wife told me I’d better stop eating so much ramen! But I want people to visit Ofunato and say they had a great bowl of sanma ramen.”

Learn more!

Ofunato City Goishi Coast Sanma Ramen

[thatsnakeman]

Goishi Coast, Ofunato City, Iwate, Japan [OC][4032x3024] via /r/EarthPorn http://bit.ly/2Jjab1K

[the-world-travelers-blog]

Goishi Coast, Ofunato City, Iwate, Japan [OC][4032x3024].

[asarisan-blog]

10/13 碁石海岸

[eztouringjp]

[travel-journal-from-shirokane]

Misaki, Restaurant(Tokyo, Japan) 御食事処 岬★★

After Goishi Coast Cruise, I had lunch at a nearby restaurant Misaki (^o^)

I had the sea urchin bowl and Nakaochi bowl (^o^)v

穴通船の後、近くの御食事処 岬でランチ(^o^)

ウニ丼、中落ち丼をいただきました(^o^)v

[travel-journal-from-shirokane]

Goishi Coast Cruise（going through a hole）, Cruise (Iwate, Japan) 碁石海岸穴通船★★

I tried Goishi Coast Cruise which goes through a hole of the rock (^o^)

The boat passes through the hole in the middle of the rock (called Anatoshiiso) with three holes (^o^)v

There is quite a thrill (^o^)v

碁石海岸穴通船に乗って来ました(^o^)

3つの穴が開いた岩（穴通磯）の真ん中の穴を船でくぐり抜けます(^o^)v

結構スリルあります(^o^)v

[s-a1019]

May 2017

#photography#olympus pen e-p5#m.zuiko digital ed 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 ez#japan#iwate#ōfunato#goishi coast#nature#bw#black and white#monochrome#black-tailed gull#umineko#pacific ocean#写真#日本#岩手県#大船渡市#碁石海岸#自然#ウミネコ#モノクロ#白黒

[s-a1019]

May 2017

#photography#olympus pen e-p5#m.zuiko digital ed 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 ez#japan#iwate#ōfunato#goishi coast#nature#black-tailed gull#umineko#pacific ocean#bw#black and white#monochrome#写真#日本#岩手県#大船渡市#碁石海岸#自然#ウミネコ#モノクロ#白黒#太平洋

[people-of-iwate]

Mark Mino-Thompson of Sumita Town (originally from Canada) -part 1- Mr. Mino-Thompson had originally intended to become a geography teacher in his hometown of Toronto, but took a detour to teach English in Sumita Town and fell in love with the mountains, the people, and his future wife. An upstanding member of the community, Mr. Mino-Thompson is part of an a capella group, a corps of samurai re-enactors, and a founding member of the ILC Support Committee (which aims to help local governments prepare for the International Linear Collider).

“I finished school and had every intention to go to teacher’s college, but I knew if I got in, I’d never get a chance to leave the country. So I thought, I’d find a job abroad, teaching English somewhere. Someone suggested the JET Programme (a Japan program for placing English teachers – the world’s largest). I specifically requested a placement somewhere cold – I knew enough about Japan to know that Tokyo and Kyoto are too hot for me. So I said Tohoku (northeastern region of Japan), which probably put me at an advantage (laughs). They put me in Sumita, but I had never heard of Sumita before. I had to go downtown to a bookstore to find a good map of Japan, where I finally found a map where there was a small little dot, Sumita. It really exists! So I was on a plane, and on my way. My intention was to do it for a year or two, and then go back to Canada, but then I started dating my future wife.”

Kaminari-iwa (lit. “Thunder Rock”), where Mr. Mino-Thompson used to spend time outside relaxing

“I love living in Sumita. I come from Ontario - very flat. Not a lot of mountains or hills. So that’s a neat experience for me. And I liked the town from the beginning. There was beautiful green mountains where my apartment was, and the only sound at night was the sound of the Kesen River. It reminded me of home in Canada where you can see all the stars. There’s so much natural beauty in Tohoku that you can’t get elsewhere. And in Sumita, you can experience some real culture. Local foods. Local events. Seeing local cultural things. I’ve traveled all over Japan, drove all over in my little beat-up car. I’ve been all around the Sea of Japan side, but the coast of Iwate and Miyagi is so much more strikingly beautiful. Ofunato is a great place, too. I’d go all the time, bring a lawn chair and read my book by Kaminari-iwa.”

Learn more! Sumita Town Goishi Coast JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme)

[people-of-iwate]

Shingo Yanagiya of Ofunato City Born and raised in Ofunato on the southern coast of Iwate, Mr. Yanagiya has always been interested in learning about many different things. He took a class on becoming a Stargazer Guide, which is someone who educates others on the constellations in the starry night sky, and decided he wanted to spread that knowledge to other people in Ofunato. He founded “Saku,” a group for appreciating the stars, and holds events throughout the area.

“Anyone can gaze at the stars, but there’s a lot of different ways to look at them, to enjoy them. As a Stargazer Guide, you’re like a star sommelier, because you base your teaching on both yours and your student’s personality. Each guide’s style is likely different, and that variation is interesting too. But it’s not just about looking at the sky, or knowing about the stars that will give you happiness. It’s teaching people – enjoying the stars with someone else, and making them happy. You look at that happiness, and then you yourself become happy. It keeps spreading out, like an inverse square law of happiness.”

 A meeting of the Stargazing Circle, “Saku” (You can see Mr. Yanagiya on the right)

“At first, it was just a few of us, but more and more people started coming by. Now we have quite a number of periodic events. For example, we have an event where we look at the stars as we listen to the waves at the Goishi Coast. There’s a campground at the coast, and so this event is a way to create events for people touring the area. Another event coming up is at an old elementary school in Rikuzentakata City, that they turned into a community center where you can stay the night. It’s in a place called Yahagi, which is kind of deep in the mountains on the edge of the city. So there’s nothing in the surrounding area and you can really see the stars. Ofunato is right next to Rikuzentakata, and I’d like for us to broaden our activities to the rest of the southern coastal region, the south of Iwate as a whole, and more.”

Learn more! Ofunato City “Saku” (Ofunato Stargazers Club) Facebook (Japanese language) About the Goishi Coast