On an off day during the volunteering trip we hit up Jodogahama. We then drove inland to Iwate’s capital city. Morioka was nothing like what I had expected it to be. In a good way.
For what had felt like an eternity we had cruised the rolling hills of Iwate from Miyako. Up until now All I had seen of Iwate had been former coastal, harbour towns that had been devestated by the tsunami and Ichinoseki. Ichinoseki is an industrial city and as such the rads are straight and wide and the atmosphere is very similar to Isesaki. As a result, I had expected Morioka to be Maebashi.
It was nothing like Maebashi. It was alive. Vibrant. Inviting. It was nothing like it’s slowly fading sister in Gunma. It may be because it was a public holiday, It may be because the Sakura were in full bloom, but the atmosphere in downtown Morioka was great.
After a lunch, we went off to explore. I took my camera and went my own way. I didn’t have a plan. I just walked, looked and took in the energy that the city was radiating.
 |  |
 |  |
The fact that Iwate is such a vast, natural and agricultural small village type of prefecture and has been so thoroughly affected by the events of March 11 2011 The vibrant metropolitan atmosphere in Morioka was a bit of a shock to the system, but It helped me reboot and give me the energy needed to get me through the rest of the week
Eventually I had to meet up with the others. After sun downers in the castle gardens, we got back into the car and time warped back into the green hills and sleepy hollows of Iwate proper as we headed back to Ofunato.
No comments:
Post a Comment