Kesennuma

Kesennuma (気仙沼市 Kesennuma-shi) is a city in Miyagi, Japan. It is home to the only shark museum in the country. There you can try a shark fin burger or various other delicacies of the city. Oshima, which lays off the coast, is accessible by ferry from multiple ferry ports. Oshima is home to beautiful beaches which are quite popular in the summer, as is the Kame-yama lift which takes you up Oshima's Kameyama. The view of the island and city is beautiful.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a bilingual guide site.

By car
The nearest expressway to Kesennuma can be found in Ichinoseki, an hour's drive to the east. There are local highways that run north along the coast to Aomori and south toward Ishinomaki. These are rather scenic but are relatively slow, particularly in areas where post-tsunami construction work is heavy.

By train
Before the tsunami, there was a train line running up the coast from Sendai. There was also a train line continuing north from Kesennuma. Both were destroyed and have not been replaced. To reach Kesennuma by train, one can take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Ichinoseki, Iwate, and transfer to a local line, which terminates at Kesennuma Station.

By bus

 * Highway buses connect Kesennuma with Sendai and Tokyo. Buses between Sendai and Kesennuma run six times a day. An overnight bus linking Kesennuma and Ikebukuro in Tokyo runs every night.
 * The BRT (bus rapid transit), which replaced the train line running up the coast from Sendai, also connects Kesennuma with Minamisanriku, and Sendai by way of transfer to train lines starting near Ishinomaki.

Get around
The city operates a circulating bus whose major stops are Kesennuma Station, city hall, Umi no Ichi, the downtown Tanaka-mae area, and the city hospital. It circulates six times a day in each direction. Rides are ¥200 per person (¥100 for children and the handicapped). Several taxi companies also operate in the city.

Go next

 * Motoyoshi
 * Minamisanriku
 * Rikuzentakata
 * Ichinoseki
 * Ofunato
 * Tome
 * Ishinomaki
 * Onagawa
 * Kurihara