Roadside Station Onagawa is a tourism and community hub centered around “Brick Road,” a pedestrian-friendly street stretching from JR Onagawa Station toward Onagawa Bay. The area brings together four facilities: Seapal-Pier Onagawa, Hamaterasu Local Market, Onagawa Town Machinaka Community Center, and Onagawa Travel Information Center “Platto”. Together, they offer opportunities to enjoy local food, shopping, sightseeing information, hands-on activities, and interaction with the local community.
Restaurants serve fresh seafood landed at Onagawa Port, while shops offer local specialties and processed seafood products. There are also workshops and stores where visitors can experience local crafts and creative activities. By exploring the area on foot, visitors can experience the food, culture, and atmosphere of this seaside town while seeing the present-day Onagawa that has been rebuilt following the Great East Japan Earthquake.
One of the defining features of Roadside Station Onagawa is Brick Road, which runs in a straight line from Onagawa Station toward Onagawa Bay. As you walk from the station toward the sea, shops and community facilities line both sides of the street, creating an open and welcoming townscape.
The area has been designed to naturally connect everyday life with tourism and community activities. Visitors can enjoy meals and shopping while looking toward the sea, browse local stores, and take their time exploring the streets of Onagawa.
Brick Road is not only a space for tourism and community interaction. It was also planned to function as an evacuation route toward higher ground in an emergency. Onagawa suffered extensive tsunami damage during the Great East Japan Earthquake, and disaster prevention and risk reduction have therefore been incorporated into the town’s reconstruction.
After the disaster, the urban area around Onagawa Station was raised, while commercial and public facilities were concentrated around the station to create a compact and walkable town. This approach to town planning has also received recognition for its townscape. The Onagawa Station Brick Road District received the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award in the Urban Space category of the 2018 Urban Landscape Awards.
Seapal-Pier Onagawa is a tenant-style commercial area adjacent to Brick Road. It brings together a wide variety of restaurants, retail stores, and workshops. While serving the everyday needs of local residents, it also functions as a place where visitors can discover the character of Onagawa.
Restaurants make use of ingredients from Onagawa, while shops and workshops offer products and activities related to guitar making, Spanish tiles, aroma soap, and other forms of craftsmanship. Visitors can therefore enjoy more than simply eating and shopping; they can also experience local creativity by making something themselves.
Seapal-Pier Onagawa has restaurants where visitors can enjoy seafood and other dishes prepared with ingredients from the local area. Fresh seafood and regional specialties offer an easy way to experience the food culture of this traditional fishing town.
In addition to restaurants, the area includes stores selling everyday goods and food, as well as workshops and shops that make and sell locally inspired products. As a result, it functions as a shopping district closely connected to everyday life, rather than simply a tourist attraction.
For travelers, this provides a chance to stroll through an area where tourism and local life exist side by side.
Some workshops allow visitors to make items such as Spanish tiles and discover products inspired by local materials and culture. Adding a hands-on creative activity to a trip provides a memorable alternative to simply eating and shopping.
Hamaterasu Local Market is a tourism and specialty-products facility where visitors can experience the food and products of Onagawa, a town closely connected with the sea. Under the theme “Gather at the sea, taste the sea,” the market offers fresh fish landed at Onagawa Port, processed seafood, and other local specialties.
The open setting provides views of the sea while visitors shop or enjoy a meal. In addition to stores selling fresh fish and seafood products, the market has restaurants where visitors can enjoy seasonal seafood and sweets.
The waters around Onagawa are rich fishing grounds, producing a wide variety of seafood including oysters, scallops, sea squirts, and silver salmon. At Hamaterasu, visitors can discover dishes and processed products made with these gifts from the sea.
Enjoying fresh seafood on site is one option, while dried fish and other processed seafood products make excellent souvenirs. They provide a way to take home the distinctive flavors of this coastal town.
The Onagawa Town Machinaka Community Center presents local information and exhibitions related to the town’s reconstruction. Learning about Onagawa’s history, including its recovery following the earthquake and tsunami, provides a deeper understanding of how today’s streetscape from the station to the sea came to be.
Roadside Station Onagawa is therefore more than a place where tourists eat and shop. It has been developed as a space where local residents and visitors can interact while experiencing Onagawa’s past, present, and future.
Onagawa Travel Information Center “Platto” is another part of Roadside Station Onagawa. It provides useful information for exploring the town, including nearby attractions and walking routes.
Checking the latest sightseeing information before exploring Seapal-Pier Onagawa and Hamaterasu can help visitors make the most of their time, especially when working with a limited travel schedule.
When visiting Roadside Station Onagawa, consider stopping at Onagawa Hot Spring Yuppo-Po, which is integrated into JR Onagawa Station. The distinctive building features a large white roof inspired by the image of a black-tailed gull spreading its wings.
Today’s Onagawa Station was rebuilt as part of the town’s reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake. It was relocated farther inland than the former station and constructed on raised ground. Designed by internationally renowned architect Shigeru Ban, the station building has become an important symbol of Onagawa’s reconstruction.
The third-floor observation deck at Onagawa Station offers views over the commercial district, Brick Road, and Onagawa Bay. Looking down on the straight route from the station toward the sea provides a clear view of the distinctive structure of the rebuilt town.
Onagawa Hot Spring Yuppo-Po features a low-pressure, alkaline low-temperature calcium-sodium chloride spring. After walking around the town and enjoying its food and shops, relaxing in the hot spring is another enjoyable way to experience Onagawa.
A free foot bath is also available near the station. It is a convenient place to stop during a walk or while waiting for a train.
The area extending from Onagawa Station toward the sea suffered extensive damage during the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Following the disaster, land raising, road improvements, and the reconstruction of commercial facilities were carried out, creating today’s new town centered around Seapal-Pier Onagawa and Hamaterasu.
For this reason, sightseeing in Onagawa is about more than food and shopping. Walking through the present-day streets while looking toward the sea also provides an opportunity to learn about the town’s reconstruction and the ways in which disaster prevention and risk reduction have been incorporated into urban planning.
Nearby is the Former Onagawa Police Box, preserved as a Great East Japan Earthquake disaster heritage site. Visiting this site and then walking through the modern commercial district around the station can provide a stronger sense of the time and effort Onagawa has experienced during its reconstruction.
Mash Park Onagawa is also located nearby and features playground equipment inspired by marine life. It offers a place where children can have fun while adults explore the food, shopping, and other attractions of the area, making it a convenient stop for families.
The area around Onagawa Station and Brick Road takes on different appearances throughout the year. In winter, in particular, the station plaza and Brick Road area are decorated with beautiful illuminations, creating a magical atmosphere that differs from the daytime scenery.
The sea, Brick Road, distinctive local shops, and reconstructed townscape all come together in an area that is especially enjoyable to explore on foot.
Seapal-Pier Onagawa, Hamaterasu Local Market, and Roadside Station Onagawa bring together many of the experiences that define the town, including seafood, local specialties, restaurants, hands-on crafts, shopping, and travel information. Located approximately one minute on foot from JR Onagawa Station, the facilities can easily be explored along Brick Road as you walk toward the sea.
Taste fresh seafood, look for local souvenirs, try a hands-on craft activity, and learn about the reconstruction of Onagawa as you explore its present-day streets. By adding Onagawa Hot Spring Yuppo-Po, nearby disaster heritage sites, and parks to your itinerary, you can experience food, sightseeing, community, and reconstruction together in one visit.
The area is approximately one minute on foot from JR Onagawa Station. It is also just a short walk from the Miyako Bus “Fukko Machizukuri Joho Koryukan” bus stop. By car, it takes approximately 30 minutes from either Ishinomaki-Kanan Interchange or Ishinomaki-Onagawa Interchange on the Sanriku Coastal Expressway.
Varies depending on the store
Varies depending on the store
1 minute walk from JR Onagawa Station
30 minutes drive from Sanriku Expressway Ishinomaki Onagawa IC