Along the east coast of Japan a new long-distance trail of approx. 700 km is being built. Currently only certain sections are ready and marked, beginning with the first 100km from Hachinohe to Kuji. Fränzi had emailed the tourist information in Hachinohe and mentioned our visit. They have been well prepared when we got there, even the mail printout ready :-). We received hiking maps and stamp collection cards. At different waypoints stamps may be collected, rewarded with pins!
The next day we started at Kabushima-Shrine (devoted to the black tailed seagull) heading south. The trail leads along the Tanesashi coast, over Mt. Hashikami-Dake, to Kominato and the Kosode coast. Every now and then we had short chats (or sort of) with locals. For example the lovely fishermen-wife which offered us to taste seagrass noodles, fresh octopus and sea snails. Delicious! Or in Kuji with the famous Ama (japanese female diver).