Tanesashi Coast

The unusual thing about Tanesashi is the grass. Sea wind, thin soil and long grazing have produced a natural turf that runs right down to the rocks at the water's edge - not planted, not mown, and soft enough that people lie on it. It is the signature image of the coast and is genuinely uncommon. The Michinoku Coastal Trail, the long-distance path created along the shore of the Sanriku region, passes through here, and the section from Kabushima to Ōsuka covers about twelve kilometres of lawn, pine, rocky headland and small fishing coves, with the train line running parallel so any part can be walked and the return taken by rail. Kabushima at the northern end is a small shrine hill occupied each spring by tens of thousands of black-tailed gulls, which nest at arm's length from the path and are loud about it.

History

The coast was designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1937, and in 1953 it became part of the new Tanesashi Kaigan Hashikamidake Prefectural Natural Park, which was incorporated in 2013 into Sanriku Fukkō National Park (Wikipedia, Tanesashi Coast).

Highlights

• Natural lawn to the tideline - unplanted turf running down to the rocks.
• The coastal trail - about twelve kilometres with the railway running alongside.
• Kabushima's gulls - tens of thousands of black-tailed gulls nesting beside the path.
• Fishing coves - small working harbours between the headlands.

When to go

May to October; the gull colony peaks in spring. A day.

Things to know

The coast is exposed and fog rolls in often in early summer. Facilities along the trail are minimal. Gulls at Kabushima are aggressive and messy in nesting season - umbrellas are lent for a reason. Winter is bleak and windswept.

Nearby

Hachinohe is west; the Sanriku coast runs south.

Key facts