Back to Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki is a fishing town / harbor / manufacturing area on the Miyagi Pacific Coast. It's not very far from Sendai, yet in the two years since I have been here, I have only been to Ishinomaki twice - once to visit newly found family and once for work.

I finally got a chance to get back this weekend, and I went to Saint (San?) Juan Bautista Park (サン　ファン　バウティスタ)　where a replica of the Date Maru (Japanese name for the ship) / Saint Juan Bautista (Spanish name) was built.

In the early 1990's, the Japanese set out to remake the Date Maru the same way it was originally built. The Japanese are admirably sticklers when it comes to recreating historical artifacts - see Yamagata Castle.

From what I can tell, they did a very good job. The ship is surprisingly small though. I'd hate to be on it for more than a few hours. The beds the crew slept on were probably too small for me to even curl up on.

I think that they should sail this ship across the Pacific and retrace the original voyage. I know it's been done, and maybe the ship isn't in tiptop condition after sitting in port for 15 years, but I think it would be interesting. (As long as I did not have to participate.)