An Updated Request to our Hikers from Michinoku Trail Club (June 25th, 2020)

On June 1st, after the nationwide state of emergency was lifted, Michinoku Trail Club, which acts as the headquarters for the Michinoku Coastal Trail has released a request on our Facebook page(https://www.facebook.com/michinoku.tc/). We asked hikers to please refrain from coming to hike from further away, but also to enjoy hiking locally for now while taking care to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Just as with our previous request in April, we are a private group, with no power to make anyone do anything. We are so grateful that everyone continues to be so cooperative and understanding about our requests, and keep sending encouraging messages as well. Thank you so much.

Recently, the national government announced that the request to refrain from traveling across prefectural borders has been lifted.
Michinoku Trail Club had further discussions to get the opinions of those cooperating with us in regions along the trail. We have reached the conclusion that it should be all right for people to gradually come and hike the Michinoku Coastal Trail again, even when it involves travel from further away to get here.

To our hikers all over Japan, thank you so much for waiting. While we can’t make a grand pronouncement under these circumstances, we think that it is all right for hikers to gradually come back to the trail.The rainy season has started for Tohoku, but early to mid-summer is a very green season, and we think you will really enjoy Michinoku’s beautiful scenery of those greens along with the bright blue ocean and sky.

However, as we wrote before, the new coronavirus has not been eliminated and there is no change to the fact that no medical treatment has been developed for this disease. It is true that the number of cases has gone down, but there are still daily reports of new cases. The Michinoku Coastal Trail goes through both natural areas and through many towns. Many people live and work along the trail, and they is what makes this trail so wonderful. We are guests in these communities, and our trail’s future depends on the support of local people. We ask you to make protecting the health of these local people as well as your own health your number one consideration, taking the necessary steps to prevent being infected and prevent spreading infection.

These steps to protect everyone’s health include:

・Not hiking if you have a fever, a cough, or don’t feel well for other reasons
・Wearing a mask, without exceptions, when you hike into an area with people
・Keeping suitable distance from others during shopping, etc. (avoiding the three Cs of closed, crowded and close-contact settings)
・Washing your hands and gargling
・Taking care during mealtimes (maintaining distance, etc)

Along with other measures to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

We ask that you enjoy hiking that is kind to both yourself and others: please take care to protect your own health, and also remember to consider the health of local people.

We are also happy to announce that the reserved boats between Higashi-Matsushima and Sabusawajima Island are now taking passengers. As usual, you will still need to make reservations five days in advance. Please contact Natori Trail Center via mail or phone to make your reservation.

While we can’t know what happens next, we are so happy to finally be able to make this kind of announcement to you all.
All of us at Michinoku Trail Club hope you will have a wonderful time on the Michinoku Coastal Trail with many lovely encounters.

NPO Michinoku Trail Club
Representative Director Toyoshi Sasaki
and all the directors and staff

(Japanese post https://m-tc.org/news/information/1362/)