Access to Kesennuma
  • Come to Kesennuma and visit our Facebook page
  • Come to Kesennuma and check out the Twitter account
Copyright © 2014 Kesennuma Tourism & Convention
Bureau. All rights reserved.sitemap)
Home > What is Choinoki?

What is Choinoki?

Experiences and Tours

Read the feature article
What is Choinoki?

The appeal of working and living in Kesennuma
Experience Programs
Visits to workplaces that are normally off-limits,
Fruit harvesting and handmade accessories
There are plenty of experiences you can only have here!

Kesennuma City is located on the northern coast of Miyagi Prefecture. Having developed since ancient times around the fishing industry, Kesennuma has taken root with unique jobs and lifestyles that can't be found anywhere else. Ice stores and box stores support the distribution of fish. Shipyards and fishing tackle shops are essential to the fishing industry. There are also strawberry and tomato harvests, play in tree houses, experience making your own accessories, and more. Wanting to spread the charm of Kesennuma even more, we started the Job and Play Area Kesennuma (hereafter referred to as Choinozoki).

Choinozoki, which started as an irregular event in 2015, was held monthly in 2016 and weekly in 2017, with a total of about 6,000 people participating. It was also selected for the Miyagi Prefecture Tourism Kingdom Miyagi Hospitality Award and the Reconstruction Agency's "New Tohoku" Reconstruction and Creation Award." From 2018, we will be adding the Choinozoki Special overnight tour and Choinozoki Select, which can be booked at any time, with the aim of making Kesennuma an enjoyable place to visit.

One of the attractions of Choinozoki is that it involves a variety of businesses outside of the tourism industry. Businesses that are normally involved in the fishing and agricultural industries run ingenious programs to allow visitors to experience their everyday work and lifestyles in an interesting way. Customers who have actually participated have told us that they were able to experience Kesennuma's charms that they had never known before and that they had a very fulfilling time.

29 Tourism Kingdom Miyagi Hospitality Award 29 "New Tohoku" Reconstruction and Creation Award

Choinozoki Kesennuma is an initiative that has attracted much attention from tourism professionals across the country, and was recognized by the Governor of Miyagi Prefecture and the Minister of Reconstruction in 29.

Voices of businesses

  • We want tourists to see our everyday work scenes as unusual and interesting.It was a very refreshing experience for me.
    Ippei Fujita

    Learn about fish distribution!
    ~Hakoya Edition~
    Fujita Container Shop
    Ippei Fujita

  • Enjoy both learning and playingWe have put a lot of effort into making this possible.
    Takayuki Okamoto

    Ice aquarium
    Explore behind the scenes!
    Okamoto Ice and Refrigeration Factory
    Takayuki Okamoto

Voice of participants

  • I was glad to be able to ask questions directly about agriculture and work.

    I enjoyed the strawberries. Thank you very much.
    Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture / Woman in her 40s / Participated in Kesennuma strawberry farming experience

  • Workplaces and jobs you don't normally see

    I was able to learn about the various things that people say. It was easy to listen to the talks and I had a lot of fun experiencing them.
    Toda City, Saitama Prefecture / Male in his 30s / Participated in the "Learn about Fish Distribution" Hakoya Edition

  • A rare and fun experience that is hard to come by even if you live in the city.

    There was even a chance to try some of the food and drink, so my children didn't get bored and enjoyed the experience. I'm glad I signed up.
    Kesennuma City / Woman in her 30s / Participated in a parent-child event to learn about fish distribution