Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Kuji JR Station 久慈駅, Kitasanriku City Tourism Association Office 北三陸市の観光協会

Can you identify Kuji's specialties depicted on the wall of the train station? Answer: Amber and uni (sea urchin).

Kuji JR Station 久慈駅 is the terminus station on Hachinohe line 八戸線, located in Kuji city 久慈市, Iwate Prefecture. There are a few trivia about his coastal town. Kuji city is the only place in Japan where amber is produced, making it one of the world's greatest producer of amber, alongside Baltic area and Dominican Republic. Here, you can find Ama (海女, literally translates into sea women) diving for urchins without any scuba gears and breathing aids. What influenced me to make this visit to Kuji city was actually Amachan アマちゃん, a NHK 15 minutes morning drama (asadora 朝ドラ) which made its debut broadcast in Japan in Apr 2013. In Singapore, I followed this long running drama serial over Waku Waku Japan channel in 2015 and I really enjoyed it a lot. In the first half of the drama serial, majority of the location shooting took place in Kuji city (which was known fictionally as Sodegahama 袖ヶ浜). Amachan's unprecedented rating success attracted numerous viewers to pay a visit to the places which were featured and this indirectly revived tourism in the earthquake and tsunami stricken Tohoku region.

Sanriku Tetsudo train on the left and JR East train on the right.

Trains serving this station include:

(1) Tohoku Emotion 東北エモーション, a themed train which commutes between Hachinohe 八戸駅 and Kuji 久慈駅. The train made its maiden trip in Oct 2013 and was introduced by JR East as part of recovery effort to promote tourism in Tohoku region after 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake. What makes Tohoku Emotion special is its mobile restaurant concept referred to as Tohoku restaurant 東北レストラン. Passengers are able to enjoy a full course meal which is specially designed for this train, utilising ingredients sourced from Tohoku region and prepared right on board the train’s open kitchen. Tohoku Emotion usually operates on Fridays, weekends and public holidays, and makes one round trip on its day of operation. Prior reservation for this train is required and can be made through View Travel びゅう旅行, a JR owned travel agency which is usually located in larger train stations.

https://www.jreast.co.jp/tohokuemotion/m/index.html

(2) Resort Umineko リゾートうみねこ, commutes between Hachinohe 八戸駅 and Kuji 久慈駅 via Hachinohe line. The train typically operates during weekends and public holidays, and makes one round trip on its day of operation. Unique features of this train are its large windows and seats that are oriented to face the sea, thus enabling passengers to capture a panoramic view of Pacific Ocean throughout the entire journey.
https://www.jr-morioka.com/noccha/train/umineko/

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What's nearby? 

(1) Sanriku Tetsudo Kuji Station 三陸鉄道久慈駅, adjacent to the train station. 

After alighting at Kuji JR Station, passengers can transfer to Sanriku Tetsudo / Sanriku Railway 三陸鉄道 and continue their journey southwards. Trains depart from Kuji for Sakari 盛駅 in Ofunato city 大船渡市 via Rias line リアス線 which runs alongside the coastline of Pacific Ocean. 

(2) Bus stops, located in front of the train station.

- For Kosode Ama Center 小袖海女センター, board the Kuji Kaigan line bus 久慈海岸線 and alight at Kosode Kaigan 小袖海岸. Do take note that this bus service is very infrequent and timings differ on weekdays and weekends. The best time to visit Kosode Ama Center is between July to September during which Ama will conduct live diving performances at stipulated timings on weekends and public holidays. I visited Kosode Ama Center outside of the peak period and had to depend on a taxi because travelling by bus was just out of the way.
Ama live diving performances at Kosode Ama Center: http://kuji-tourism.jp/see/?p=51

- For Kuji Amber Museum 久慈琥珀博物館, board the Yamane line bus 山根線 and alight at Kuji Amber Museum Iriguchi 久慈琥珀博物館入口. Do take note that this bus stop is still some distance away (1.7 km) from the museum. The museum actually provides complimentary shuttle service from this bus stop if you inform them beforehand the timing you expect to reach the bus stop. (Contact number: +81-0194-59-3831)
Kuji Amber Museum: http://www.kuji.co.jp/　

Bus schedule: https://www.city.kuji.iwate.jp/matizukurika/tiiki_g/bus_timetable.html





(3) Former Ekimae Depart 駅前デパート / Kitasanriku City Tourism Association Office 北三陸市の観光協会, located in front of the train station.
A familiar scene came into sight as soon as I stepped out of the train station! This unoccupied building directly facing the train station is formerly known as Ekimae Depart. After the building was featured as the office of Kitasanriku City Tourism Association, its fate was completely changed and was elevated to a tourist attraction. When I was there in May 2016, the colourful posters featuring Aki and Yui, and Kitasanriku were still intact, hanging outside the building, just like how they appeared in the drama serial. I am sure that die hard fans of Amachan will relate very well to this scene.



(4) Amachan House アマちゃんハウス, 1 minute walk from train station.
http://kuji-tourism.jp/see/?p=486

(5) Michi no eki (Roadside Station) Kuji Yamase Dofukan 道の駅久慈 やませ土風館, 5 minutes walk from train station.
http://dofukan.com/

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Commemorative stamp: