Kesennuma Points of Interest

Here is a listing of various places in Kesennuma that can/will help anyone visiting or living here pass the time and improve the standard of living. Improvements on the standard of living may vary with mileage.

Izakaya/Bars

Pinpon (ぴんぽん) Grid 39 on map
Open when hungry and at night, +6pm-11pm?

One of the most popular local hangouts in the area. Relatively cheap food and drinks. Can get very crowded at times, especially on the weekends. Reservations are a good idea for groups during busy times, 0226-23-7007.
On a side note, just across the street from Pinpon is a bar called Ans. It’s a good place for a few more drinks and darts after Pinpon closes.

Jidaiya (時代屋) Grid 34 on map
Open when hungry and at night, +6pm?

Another popular spot. The Jidaiya salad and Yaki Hokke (a kind of grilled mackerel) are favorites. They also have a nice assortment of chuhi.


Toritomo (鳥とも) Grid 39 on map
Open 5pm-11pm

A place that specializes in chicken, namely yakitori (grilled chicken on sticks). Good chicken and reasonable prices.

Kaheiya (嘉平屋) Grid 55 on map
Open when hungry and at night, +6pm?

A small izakaya right next to Amii (karaoke). The menu contains various dishes from different Asian countries. Good food for a decent price.

Godai (ごだい) Grid 47 on map
Open everyday 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm

Many different kinds of side dishes and set meals to choose from. Prices are a little more expensive then other similar places.


Restaurants

Gokuu (悟空) ramen Grid 40 on map
Open when hungry and at night, +6pm?

One of the best ramen houses in Kesennuma. If you live in Kesennuma and don’t know about Gokuu you need to wakeup from your read & repeat induced coma. The house specialty is their Sendai miso ramen despite the fact that this isn’t Sendai.

Jyanjyan (ジャンジャン) Yakiniku Grid 55 on map
Open when hungry?

One of the two large yakiniku restaurants in Kesennuma. It’s fairly standard as far as yakiniku restaurants go. Popular for meat eating parties.

Yamanakaya (やまなか屋) Yakiniku Grid 62 on map
Open when hungry?

Another popular yakiniku spot. As with most yakiniku it’s a little expensive but they have good reimen (冷麺).


Kaika (かいか) Chinese Grid 37 on map
Open Fri-Wed 11am-12am
Closed Thursday

A small Chinese restaurant. Reasonable prices and portions. The Maaboudoufu (麻婆豆腐) set is a personal favorite.

Hacchin China (八珍チャイナ) Chinese Grid 61 on map
Open 11am-9pm
Closed Thursday

A larger Chinese restaurant, they have a bit bigger selection but also a little more expensive. Their menu has pictures for most of their dishes so it may be easier to order from here if you’re not confident in your Japanese-Chinese reading abilities. But it may still be difficult to know what you’re getting if you haven’t had Japanized Chinese food before.

Maguroya (まぐろ屋) Tuna Grid 50 on map
Open when hungry?

A restaurant specializing in tuna dishes and a fairly popular lunch spot. You can get different kinds of tuna done in different kinds of ways. Anything from raw minced to deep fried tuna can be had here.


Asahi Sushi (あさひ鮨) Sushi Grid 39 on map
Open when hungry?

A good quality sushi restaurant. Prices are a bit expensive but you can get some of the best sushi around.

Sushi Gourmet (すしグルメ) Sushi Grid 61 on map
Open 11am-9pm

A kaiten (回転) or conveyor belt sushi restaurant. The quality may not be the best but at least it’s cheap; with most things starting at 105yen (plus tax) a plate. Your visits may turn into contests to see who can stack more plates of semi-decent sushi by the end.

Kappa Sushi Grid 55 on map
A new sushi restaurant in 2007. Highly recommend

Restaurant Aceport (レストランエースポート) Italian Grid 40 on map
Lunch: 11:30am-2pm, Dinner: 5:30pm-9:30pm
Sunday/Holidays until 9pm

Found on the 3rd floor of Aceport, you can get to there by taking some stairs up in the NE corner of the building. It’s a somewhat small but quiet restaurant with a nice view of the port at night. The food is very good and prices are not too bad.


Marle Monte (マーレ・モンテ) Italian Grid 62 on map
Open Wed-Mon Lunch: 11:30am-2pm, Dinner: 5:30pm-9pm
Sat-Sun/Holidays Lunch: 11:30am-2:30pm, Dinner: 5:30pm-9pm
Closed Tuesday

A very classy kind of restaurant. Food is very good and prices reasonable.

Coup de Feu (クードフー) Various Grid 54 on map
Open when hungry?
Closed Thursday

An interesting mix of French, Italian, and Brazilian food all in one place.

Yoshinoya (吉野屋) Fast food Grid 63 on map
Open 24hours/7days a week

A fast food chain that’s famous for its gyuu-don (牛丼) or beef bowl. But since Japan put limits on US beef imports due to BSE fears, gyuu-don has been replaced with buta-don (豚丼) or pork bowl. It still offers other beef items, like the gyuuyakiniku-don (牛焼肉丼), and is a good place for fast and cheap meat.


Mos Burger (モスバーガー) Fast food Grid 62 on map
Open when hungry?

A typical fast food restaurant. But better quality than McDonalds in the opinions of some. In case you were wondering, Mos stands for:
Mountain- Their care is as high and noble as the mountains.
Ocean- Their hearts are as deep and wide as the oceans.
Sun- Their passion burns as hot as the sun.
If that doesn’t inspire you to buy 10 burgers now, you are unworthy of the Mos.

Joyfull
Joyfull is across from the Shark Museum and Sakura Bowling, and is a good social and cheap restaurant where you can get meal sets, drink bar and western style foods. Its also pretty popular with the students!

Stores

Hamada Supermarket Grid 56 on map
Open everyday 9:30am-8:00pm

A fairly small supermarket but also the closest to the port if you live around there. Their meat seems to be of better quality than Jusco.

Jusco (ジャスコ) Supermarket/Dept. Store Grid 63 on map
Open everyday 10am-10pm

Arguably the largest store in Kesennuma. The first floor has a supermarket, GINZA Cozy Corner (cakes & sweets), Mister Doughnuts, and McDonalds. The second floor contains a department store, some family restaurants, and a 31 (Baskin-Robbins) Ice Cream. 31 Ice Cream is only open to 9pm just so you know.

Crea (クリエみうら) Supermarket Grid 69 on map
Open 9:30am-9pm

A medium sized supermarket. A good alternative to Jusco if you just want to avoid the crowds.

Maiya Supermarket Grid 78 on map
Open 9am-10pm

A fairly big supermarket. Good selection of vegetables. There’s a 100yen store attached but the selection is a bit limited.

Geo (ゲオ) Video Rental Grid 55 on map
Open 10am-1am

If you want to rent videos, DVDs, and music this is the place to be. It has the largest growing selection in town. Gaining membership is as easy as filling out a simple form. Just remember to bring your alien reg. card with you when you do. You may need a credit card or bank book as well so they can charge you should you have the irresistible urge to run off with their rentals.


Denkodo, now called KS (デンコードー) Electronics/Appliances Grid 62 on map
Open 10am-8pm
Closed days depend on month but usually on Wednesday.

The larger of the two electronics stores. First floor has appliances, cell phones, TVs, and stereos. The second floor has computers, digital cameras, video games, DVDs, and music.

Dengekisouko (電激倉庫) Electronics/Appliances Grid 78 on map
Open 10am-8pm

The other electronics store. Most electronics needs can be taken care of in Denkodo so not much is known on this side of the market.

Homac (ホーマック) Hardware/Home Improvement Grid 63 on map
Open 9am-9pm

The one stop spot for all your do-it-yourself needs. They have almost everything you could need for your humble dwelling short of actual furniture. Luckily, the suicide inducing theme song is no longer played on repeat at this store so you can enjoy your shopping without being drawn to the axe section every 3 mins.


Recreation

Sakura Bowl (さくらボウル) Bowling Grid 50 on map
Open when bored?

Still fairly new and one of the few fun spots around in Kesennuma, if you don’t mind bowling that is. The first floor has a game center and the second floor has the actual lanes. It’s not particularly cheap but they have discount deals now and then you can look out for.

Crayon (クレヨン) Karaoke Grid 56 on map
Open when bored?

A popular karaoke spot with one of the largest selections of English songs around. You can order food and drinks as well. This is one is called Italian Crayon due to the green, white, red motif and their menu contains a lot of Italiany food items. There is another Crayon across the street from the Hamada supermarket called Asian Crayon (though some say it looks more Aztec).

Amii (あみい) Karaoke Grid 55 on map
Open when bored?

Another large karaoke spot. Their selection of English songs isn’t as good as Crayon’s but it can be cheaper since you can bring your own food and drink here. And that thing near the face’s mouth is a mike in case you had other thoughts.


K-wave (ケー・ウェーブ) Gym/Budokan Grid 76 on map
Open 9am-9pm
Closed most Mondays but may change depending on the calendar.

A large facility costing the GDP of some smaller countries. The main building contains a large court area and a small weight/exercise machine room. A budokan for things like Judo and Kyudo are in an attached wing.

Rias Arc Art Museum (リアス・アーク美術館) Grid 76 on map
Open Wed-Sun 9:30am-5pm, last admittance at 4:30pm
Closed Mon-Tues/Holidays (except when on a Sat or Sun)
May also be closed on other days depending on the calendar.

Some consider this museum a white elephant and well… yeah. It rotates exhibits of mainly Japanese artists who may or may not be famous but most of us wouldn’t know anyway.