The commercial area that includes Seapal Pier Onagawa, the Hama (Beach) Terrace local market, the Onagawa Machinaka Koryukan (community center), and the Onagawa Town Travel Information Center “Puratto” is registered as Onagawa Michi-no-Eki Roadside Station and has become a recreation spot for local residents and visitors. The brick promenade from Onagawa Station to the sea is lined with shops of all kinds and also functions as a safe evacuation route in the other direction to high ground in an emergency. This area, with the pedestrian promenade made of brick, earned the 2018 Urban Landscape Award (grand prize) from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the Urban Spaces category.
Seapal Pier Onagawa is home to a variety of businesses, including retail stores, cafés and restaurants, and handicraft studios, while Hama (Beach) Terrace is a local market that sells fresh fish and processed marine products, and also includes restaurants where visitors can enjoy seafood. One may also visit the Onagawa Machinaka Koryukan, a community center with panels and models that showcase the town’s reconstruction work.
Adjacent to the Onagawa station building is a hot spring facility, Onagawa Onsen Yupoppo, with trailer house lodging facilities available, making it easy to recommend staying near the station for sightseeing. Other nearby sites to visit include the Former Onagawa Police Box Disaster Memorial Ruins, and Mash Park Onagawa where you can enjoy playground equipment such as motifs of sea creatures. In winter, the area from Onagawa Station Square to the brick promenade is beautifully illuminated, creating a magical atmosphere.