On the 10th anniversary of ‘the great tsunami’, specialist tour operator, InsideJapan launch new a ‘Rural Tohoku Trail’ trip to celebrate the region.

Back in 2011, Japan’s Tohoku covered every TV screen and front page for weeks with images of devastation and stories of lives being lost. The name Tohoku may not be recognised outside of the context of ‘the great tsunami’ which struck the north-east Pacific coast of Japan on March 11 ten years ago, but there is good reason why InsideJapan are keen to make this culturally-rich rural region more accessible to international visitors.

This area of Japan only attracts around 2% of international travellers, with most visitors preferring to head south on the Shinkansen from Tokyo, to Kyoto unaware of what incredible places, people and culture await them in the north of Japan’s mainland of Honshu. Having run the ‘Northern Soul’ small group tour to the region since the Japan travel specialist was established back in 2000 and tailoring ‘Northern Highlights’ trips for those repeat-travellers that wanted to get further beneath the surface of Japan, the region has always been important to the specialists.

“2011 and the 'Tohoku Tsunami' was a huge event for the region, for Japan and for us as a Japan travel specialist,” said Co-founder Alastair Donnelly. “The event shook the world and devastated hundreds of thousands of lives. It affected people we know, suppliers, friends, and employees and the horrific event has become part of our company’s fabric,” added Donnelly.

“At the time our customers raised thousands of pounds for non-profit organisations in the area and staff volunteered for coastal clean ups. We can only continue trying to do what we can for the region in the form of tourism when travel is allowed again, and Tohoku really is the untainted Japan that most people picture,” said the Co-founder. 

The new Tohoku add-on trip has been created to be easily hooked on to any journey which includes the likes of Tokyo and Kyoto. The new ‘Rural Tohoku Trail’ trip trundles on train through mountains and along coast, staying in a traditional ryokan guest house in the hot spring ‘onsen’ town of Ginzan and at a sacred mountain top temple on Mt. Haguro. A stay in a newly converted traditional storehouse in the samurai town of Kakunodate is another highlight as is the street food and local Izakaya bar tour of Sendai city.

“Despite everything the region has been through, it is the culture, the countryside and the people that make the area so special and why we are so keen make it as easy as possible for our travellers to get there,” added Product Manager, Madeleine Bromige. She continued, “These are places that people don’t hear about, but that’s even more a reason to go. The Tohoku experience is unfiltered but fantastically Japanese which is why we plan to introduce more of the region.”

Donnelly added, “Tohoku and Japan showed the world, how quickly it could come together and rebuild. It had gone from being an FCO declared ‘no-go-zone’ to one of the world’s most exciting bucket list destinations in a relatively short space of time. Perhaps its journey from crisis to success can give the rest of the travel industry some post-pandemic hope”. He added, “Tohoku is special. We will not forget what happened, but there is so much there to look forward too.”

InsideJapan’s 7 day ‘Rural Tohoku Trail’ add-on cost from £1608pp (excl international flights) which includes 6 nights accommodation, breakfast every day, transport across the region, train passes, a night tour of Sendai and more. The trip can be tailored and added to, to ensure that travellers get the most out of Tohoku. 

www.InsideJapanTours.com 
More Tohoku tales, ten years on can be found on InsideJapan's blog here.