The Oshika Peninsula is a peninsula which projects southeast into the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 from the coast of Miyagi Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...

 in northeast Honshu

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, the main island of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

The peninsula is most often visited as the gateway to the sacred island of Kinkasan

Kinkasan

is a small sacred island in Miyagi Prefecture in north-eastern Japan. It is considered one of the Three Holiest Places of the Tōhoku region, along with Dewa Sanzan and Osorezan. It lies in the Pacific Ocean off the Oshika Peninsula....

, which can be accessed by ferries running from the costal whaling port of Ayukawa in Ishinomaki, Miyagi

Ishinomaki, Miyagi

is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.As of January 1, 2010, the city had an estimated population of 164,294 and a population density of 295.83 persons per km²...

 and from Onagawa

Onagawa, Miyagi

is a town located in Oshika District, Miyagi, Japan. The town was formed in 1926. The town takes pride in the fact that it still has beaches with "squeaking sand", which has apparently become rare in Japan due to human induced environmental changes. Onagawa is a port town, and right at the...

.

2011 earthquake and tsunami

The Oshika Peninsula was the closest part of Honshu to the epicenter of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, the closest parts of its eastern coastline approximately 72 kilometres (44.7 mi) away, with only a few neighboring minor islands a few kilometers closer. A report on March 14 indicated that 1,000 bodies had washed ashore on the peninsula. The March 11 earthquake shifted Oshika Peninsula by 5.3 m (17.4 ft) towards the epicenter and lowered it by 1.2 m (3.9 ft), according to the Geospatial Information Authority in Tsukuba. These two land mass movements are records for Japan, according to government figures. Many small villages along the coast of the peninsula, administered by Ishinomaki City

Ishinomaki, Miyagi

is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.As of January 1, 2010, the city had an estimated population of 164,294 and a population density of 295.83 persons per km²...

, were heavily damaged.