About Kamaishi City

Kamaishi City, the city of steel, fish and rugby, is located on the Pacific-facing Sanriku Coast of the Tohoku region – one of the three best fishing grounds on earth. It offers a lifestyle rich in natural scenery, surrounded by the rias-style coastline on one side and a dramatic mountain-scape on the other. Compared to most parts of northern Japan, Kamaishi enjoys a relatively warm and mild climate, with a culture and cuisine that reflect its distinct four seasons.

As the location of the first western-style blast furnace built in Japan, as well as the first domestic steelworks, Kamaishi is often referred to as “The Birthplace of Japan’s Modern Steel Industry”.

Although the city marked 80 years as a municipality in 2017, this history has been marred by recurrent tsunami disasters, two naval bombardments during the Second World War and a rapid decrease in population following the decline of the steel industry.

In most recent memory, the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster, occurred on March 11, 2011. Over 1000 lives were lost or remain unaccounted for in Kamaishi alone, and the city suffered an unprecedented level of destruction. In regaining their feet after this tragedy, the people of Kamaishi have demonstrated the iron-like resilience that has seen them overcome the many difficulties of the past, and are continuing on the journey to recovery with support from all over Japan and the world.

In the midst of this recovery process, Kamaishi’s Hashino Iron Mining and Smelting Site was registered with UNESCO World Heritage as one of the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Restoration” in 2015, and the city was selected to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019. As the World Cup approaches, Kamaishi hopes to embrace its role as the only host city representing the whole of Tohoku, and express the region’s gratitude to the rest of the world for their support during the aftermath of the disaster.

Getting to Kamaishi

From All Major Regions

Main Flight Routes and Approximate Travel Times

Travelling from Within Japan

Domestic Flights

From Sapporo
New Chitose Airport → Hanamaki Airport approx. 60 min (JAL)
From Nagoya
Komaki Airport → Hanamaki Airport approx. 70 min (FDA)
From Osaka
Itami Airport → Hanamaki Airport approx. 80 min (JAL)
From Fukuoka
Fukuoka Airport → Hanamaki Airport approx. 120 min (JAL)

Trains

From Shin-Hanamaki Station
JR Kamaishi Line: (Express) 1 hr 30 min/ (Local) 2 hrs
From Hanamaki Airport Station
Tohoku Main Line: 5 min to Hanamaki Station + transfer to JR Kamaishi Line
From Sendai
Tohoku Shinkansen: 1 hr to Shin-Hanamaki + transfer to JR Kamaishi Line
From Tokyo
Tohoku Shinkansen: 2 hrs 50 min to Shin-Hanamaki + transfer to JR Kamaishi Line
From Hakodate
Hokkaido Shinkansen: 2 hrs 10 min to Morioka + transfer to JR Kamaishi Line (Express) 2 hrs 20 min

Car(*Destination set as JR KAMAISHI STATION)

From Shin-Hanamaki Station
Via Kamaishi Expressway approx. 1 hr 30 min
From Hanamaki Airport
Via Kamaishi Expressway approx. 1 hr 30 min
From Sendai
Via Tohoku Expressway/Kamaishi Expressway approx. 3 hrs 30 min
From Tokyo
Via Tohoku Expressway/Kamaishi Expressway approx. 8 hrs

Overnight Bus

Departing Tokyo/Ikebukuro
(Via Akihabara/Ueno/Tono) 10 hrs 40 min
Departing Tokyo/Ikebukuro
(via Rikuzentakata/Ofunato) 9 hrs