Miyako and Jodogahama

We stopped to buy petrol at what was probably the northern edge of Miyako's local govt area. The petrol station was right on the coast but very high up and quite ok. There was a junior high school opposite that was also quite ok, and there were kids outside playing tennis despite the stiff wind.

Looking to the coast from the petrol station - concrete blocks are broken, but otherwise the beach has been cleared.
I am not sure what the the story of the boats is, but they would not have been there like that after the tsunami

The bridge across - taken from the petrol station

Jodogahama 2006

Jodogahama 2006

Jodogahama was one of the highlights of our trip in 2006.  I really wanted to go back and see it again, particularly after the earthquake.  Driving along this time, it seemed that the cliff areas were ok, debris, but that will clear in time, with Jodogahama though, I wondered whether there would be anything much of the sand left.   This is a youtube clip of the destruction on Jodogahama - the voice is in Japanese, but the pictures give enough of a sense of it.

The clean up effort has been phenomenal.

Jodogahama May 2011 

May 2011

The restaurant on the beach front has been washed out and is now boarded up.

When I was up there I thought the water had receded massively,
it has somewhat, but that impression is exacerbated by the loss of
vegetation.

The road way has been washed out

The concrete paths remain in great condition, though the foundations
have been washed out.

The rocks are still beautiful.

Looking at this, I feel very hopeful that the tourist industry
will be able to reconstruct.

reposted from ponkanchan.blogspot.com