Not to be confused with Miyako Island
Miyako-Iwate is a small city of about 51,000 people situated on the eastern-most coast of Honshu, Japan's biggest and main island. It has a container port famous for its fish. The main attraction is its surrounding national park with underground caves and limestone cliffs as well as its top rated beaches( especially Jodogo-hama beach) popular with Japanese holiday makers.
Miyako is not a cruise port and so there is no port building to walk through. The residents give us a warm welcome with their high school students playing music to their guests on a cold morning - guaranteed to warm our hearts.
A truly Japanese welcome
The lack of a cruise building is more than made up for with several marquees. Hordes of volunteers gave out local maps. There is even a bouncy 'castle' albeit a Japanese cartoon character! The day is beginning to warm up. A shuttle bus takes us to the railway station in about 25 mins. There is a tourist office there but we don't need it since its an easy city to navigate and we are definitely not going to the the promoted attractions that are a long drive away. We could take the local buses but we are content to explore the immediate vicinity. This turns out to be remarkable since we really get to appreciate the nature of theJapanese culture as never before.
Is the Town alive
It has begun to drizzle but by this time we are already near their famous fish market. A quick tour gives us some respite before we resume the walk along what seems to be an arterial road lined with old and new buildings. It wax hard to tell whether each was residential or business property. Most of the doors a closed against the cold and we are not even sure if the businesses are open except if there is a tell-tale sign of umbrellas placed in a tall receptacle at the entrance. There's one in every store.
Since it's still autumn the gardens are still abloom with flowers. One garden was especially attractive with its multicoloured flowers. As I was passing by, one particular pot made me stop on my track and retrace a few steps. Bunches of grapes- a few were green and others were purple. Was this a hybrid or grafted grape vine? This is Japan after all! Defintely a reason for a closer look. Aha! These are not grape leaves! More scrutiny. Bunches of plastic grapes placed at strategic nodes with the help of ties! Could have fooled me!
Sylvan setting
We continued our walk uphill on a narrow road with a pullout now and then for passing cars (almost none). Water babbled in the background and birds chirped. We were actually walking along a naturally camouflaged stream. No fences. It can't get anymore natural. Almost every house has a garden with either fruit trees or vegetables. I spott a hairy fruit. You guessed it. kiwi. And there are hundreds on the few vines that a lady with a broad smile for us was tending. We had a one-sided conversation with a cascade of Japanese words which I took to mean , "Sorry, the fruits are not ripe, and will not be for a few weeks. My apologies for not being able to share any with you."
In another residence fire wood has been stacked in various parts of the garden. One vegetable garden has bright red chillies! And, what are these other fruits- passion fruit? As we near the top of the hill the rain picks up. We find shelter under an overhead pass.
Perhaps the overhead two-lane road would take us back to town, but our map stops short there and we we retrace our steps downhill. In one of the bigger residences in town we see a resident trimming off the parasitic creepers on his fruit tree from his balcony upstairs. There is a lot more life on the streets with Japanese women in their aprons frequenting their favourite stores for their fresh fish and vegetables.
What is it about Japanese temples? They are so calming.
Now, we follow the map again to a temple. We hadn't realised how cleverly the route had been indicated on the map. The relevant numbers appeared on the lamp posts! No trouble at all reaching the quiet temple beside which is a kindergarten. The tatami mats in the temple are very comfortable to sit on. I grab the opportunity for a short meditation.
On our way back to the port we pass by a shrine. We looked at the steep and narrow stone hewn steps. Not today! We have seen enough shrines in Japan
The most friendly citizens
Back at the railway station we take a quick look at the tracks, even crossing them, before we head back to the port. We are greeted by the many volunteers who know only a few welcoming words. They are all college students majoring in English, Korean and Chinese! They struggle as we ask about them but bravely and hesitantly try to communicate with us.
The port is abuzz with guests trying on kimonos, trying out food from the food trucks, learning to write their names in Japanese, etc.
Ha! There's WiFi. Of course, it's intermittent but who wouldn't want to connect. And then we are done for the day. As we we pull off the local high school brass band peforms a selection of music and the citizens have come out in full force to wave us off on a safe voyage.
What can the world really learn from Miyako-Iwate?: Recovering from the tsunami
Recent history is testament to their resilience. The prefecture was horrendously battered by a massive earthquake in March, 2011. The tsunami that resulted in 10 meter high waves that rose over their levees destroying most of downtown. Homes and businesses were lost. A 6 storey hotel on the famous beach lost two of its bottom most floors to the tsunami while the four upper floors remained. All the while the proprietor of the hotel was standing on the top floor watching his hotel being washed away underfoot. Today the Taro Kanko Hotel is a designated earthquake heritage site.
What a lively spot the city is today. The Japanese, typically, are not complainers. They pick up where they left, and carry on with life. They are not quick to blame. They look out for each other. There's something there that we can all learn from.
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