The Kamaishi Dai-Kannon is an enormous statue of a god, watching out over fishermen as they go out to sea. It was only constructed some 30 years ago, so lacks the historical signifigance of other statues, but you can go up inside and look out from her forehead, Statue-of-Liberty style.

Kamaishi is on the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern end of JR's Kamaishi Line, which extends from Hanamaki in central Iwate to Kamaishi on the coast. On this route is also Shin-Hanamaki Bullet Train Station, which is on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line

Trains only run a few times a day, so plan your schedule carefully.

Nestled in a long valley, Kamaishi proper is 14 km long by (as little as) 200m wide. When you're on the main road, it's difficult to get lost. That said, JR's Kamaishi line has four stops within the city, used by commuters, as well as a couple of bus lines. One caveat: the hamlets in the neighbouring valleys (one to the north, and one to the south) are technically part of Kamaishi, so a city bus may suddenly take a sharp left and take off through a mile-long tunnel.

As with many places, you can find many sushi shops here offering fare that was in the ocean a few hours before.