The horrific tsunami that swept across Iwate Prefecture and other areas of Tohoku’s coast in 2011 is finally becoming a distant memory, though the healing continues. To help in that healing process, and to draw more tourists to this little-known area, new developments have opened in Iwate Prefecture since the tsunami, including Japan’s newest national park, its longest hiking trail, two new UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and a stadium built from scratch for the 2019 World Rugby Cup.
For more articles I’ve written about Iwate, see: Japan’s North after the Tsunami; Japan’s Iwate Prefecture: Wild, White, and Wonderful; and Kamaishi–The Comeback Rugby Town 7 Years after the Tsunami; and “Wacky Wanko Soba and other Culinary Oddities of Japan’s Iwate Prefecture,” below:
