Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture is one of the town that was hit hard by the tsunami which followed the earthquake on March 11, 2011. I was passing thru 5 months afterwards and still the stark grim reminders remain of what happened that day.
Later that evening I went to Sendai the capital of Miyagi which had also gotten hit that day. It was the kick-off of their big Tanabata festival which they do with a big fireworks display. It was good to see the people out and about enjoying themselves – they had cancelled some other festivals in previous months. It showed me that the Tohoku area will pull itself through the disaster with their indomitable spirit. Ganebaremasu!
AloJapan.com