Sendai Bay

An inlet facing the Pacific Ocean stretching from the Oshika Peninsula in central-eastern Miyagi Prefecture to Cape Uno-misaki in northeastern Fukushima Prefecture. Matsushima Bay is a branch bay located almost in the center, and Ishinomaki Bay is located in the northeast of Matsushima. The old Kitakami River, Naruse River, Natori River, and Abukuma River flow into the coast from the north, forming the Ishinomaki Plain and Sendai Plain, where rice cultivation is thriving. Vegetables and fruits are also cultivated on the coastal beach embankments. Ishinomaki, at the mouth of the old Kitakami River, and Arahama, at the mouth of the Abukuma River, were hubs of river transportation during the Sendai Domain era, and were the starting points for rice transportation around Edo. Ishinomaki and Shiogama are leading fishing ports in the Tohoku region, and seaweed and oyster farming is thriving on the west coast of the Oshika Peninsula and in Matsushima Bay. Since 1964, the coastal area of ​​Miyagi Prefecture has been designated a new industrial city, and the construction of Ishinomaki Industrial Port and Sendai Port has led to significant industrialization in the hinterland. The Oshika Peninsula is part of Sanriku Reconstruction National Park (formerly Minamisanriku Kinkazan Quasi-National Park), Matsushima has been designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, and there are many historical sites along the coast.

[Norio Hasegawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

宮城県中東部の牡鹿半島(おしかはんとう)から福島県北東部の鵜の尾岬(うのおみさき)に至る太平洋に面した湾入。支湾としてほぼ中央に松島湾、その北東部に石巻湾(いしのまきわん)がある。沿岸には北から旧北上(きたかみ)川、鳴瀬(なるせ)川、名取(なとり)川、阿武隈(あぶくま)川などが流入して石巻平野や仙台平野をつくり、米作が盛ん。また、沿岸の浜堤(ひんてい)列には野菜や果実が栽培される。旧北上川河口の石巻や阿武隈川河口の荒浜(あらはま)は仙台藩時代には河川交通の拠点であり、江戸廻米(かいまい)運送の起点であった。石巻と塩釜(しおがま)は東北地方屈指の漁港であり、牡鹿半島西岸や松島湾内はノリやカキの養殖が盛んである。1964年（昭和39）以降宮城県に属する湾岸一帯が新産業都市に指定され、石巻工業港、仙台港の建設により、後背地の工業化が著しい。牡鹿半島は三陸復興国立公園（旧、南三陸金華山国定公園）に、松島は特別名勝に指定され、沿岸には史跡も多い。

［長谷川典夫］

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