Northern Trailhead

The northern trailhead is at Kabushima Shrine in Hachinohe City (Aomori Prefecture), a short walk from Same Station（鮫駅）. Same (pronounced sam-eh) means shark in Japanese, and there is a rather striking statue of a shark outside the station which makes for a good selfie. There are a few different ways to get there:

• Shinkansen (Bullet Train). Take the Shinkansen from wherever you are to Hachinohe station（八戸駅）. Tokyo to Hachinohe Station takes approximately 3 hours and costs roughly 17,000 yen. From there, head to Same station on the Hachinohe Line (21 minutes, 240 yen).

• Long-Haul Bus. For those who are more budget-conscious, you can hop on a long-haul or overnight bus with companies like Willer Express. This takes about 8-10 hours from Tokyo and costs anything between 5-12,000 yen depending on which day you choose and your departure point. Once you arrive at Hachinohe Station (likely bleary-eyed if you’ve done an overnighter), grab a coffee from nearby Lawson or Doutor Coffee, and then head onto the Hachinohe Line to Same station (21 minutes, 240 yen).

• Flights. You can also apparently fly into Misawa Airport (MSJ) from Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo, which is located 30km north of the trailhead. From there, you can take a bus to Hachinohe, followed by a train to Same station (depending on availability). I have never done this myself and so can’t verify this first-hand, but wanted to share in case this is a useful option for someone out there.

Southern Trailhead

The southern trailhead is at Matsukawaura Kankyo Koen (park) in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. The park itself is either a short bus ride (15 minutes, 310 yen) or a 3.7km walk from Soma Station (in case you need a warm up before you begin). In terms of getting to Soma Station, you have a few different options:

• Shinkansen (Bullet Train). Take the shinkansen to Sendai Station. For reference, a ticket from Tokyo Station to Sendai Station (仙台駅）will set you back approximately 12,000 yen and the journey will take around 1.5 - 2 hours. From Sendai, take the Joban Line (990 yen, 58 minutes) or the HITACHI and TOKIWA Limited Express (2,000 yen, 37 minutes) to Soma Station.

• Long-Haul Bus. There is also the option of hopping onto a long-haul bus, which will likely save you a few thousand yen. One option, for example, would be heading to Fukushima station (福島駅), which costs anything between 2,500-6,000 yen from Tokyo via companies like Willer Express. From Fukushima, there is a bus that goes to Soma City, taking approximately 2 hours and costing some 1,400 yen. There are many other options (including combining a bus and a local train) that can save you some yen, so I would suggest using a tool like Jorudan (available in English) to figure out what works best for you.

Local transport

In terms of local transport between trail sections, there are trains and buses running up and down most of the Tohoku region’s coastline, including the iconic Sanriku Railway Rias Line, enabling hikers to hop between sections (with a bit of planning).