Hiking in Japan: Honshu coastal trail celebrates post-tsunami reconstruction, while a guided walk in the rural southwest is a trek into the past

The Michinoku Coastal Trail traverses the region hit by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the damage still raw in places, rebuilding evident in others

On the other side of the country, a guided hike takes in centuries-old temples, shrines, and inns where emperors stayed; as well as Japan’s smallest volcano

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A serene section of the Michinoku Coastal Trail, a celebration of post-tsunami rebuilding in northeastern Honshu, Japan. Other hiking options include historic trails in the island’s southwest with surprises at every turn. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

Peter Neville-Hadley

Published: 7:45am, 29 Jan 2023Updated: 5:16pm, 15 Feb 2023

“If the tsunami warning comes,” says the attendant at the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum, “you must go this way.”

She points out the road to a primary school visible on high ground in the distance.

“Twenty to 25 minutes by walk,” she says.

“Ten minutes by run,” I reply.

The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum displays the remains of a giant steel girder from a bridge swept away by the 2011 tsunami. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

During eight days travelling south on foot down the east coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, on the newly created Michinoku Coastal Trail, a friend and I have seen plenty of evidence of the destructive power of water: spaghettified rebar writhing in the remains of buildings crushed by the tsunami of March 11, 2011; towns freshly reconstructed and cowering behind newly built concrete barriers; high water marks on cliff sides several metres above our heads.

It’s a great pleasure that Japan is open for walking again, we tell the museum attendant, and after this self-guided tour we’ll be joining a small-group guided walk, conducted at a more gentle pace. But if the siren sounds we won’t be walking anywhere: we’ll be sprinting.