First of all, I am not sure about how will I be perceived, as a visitor.Most people won't care. Some people will be happy to see a foreign tourist. As long as you do not cause anybody any inconvenience by parking your car in a wrong places, etc., you won't cause any negative feelings.
As a 'horror tourist' if I don't present myself as a journalist. Or wil I be met with suspicion as "just another journalist" that comes and takes a few pictures if I tell I am writing a story about it (I am not sure if I .If you just travel through, nobody will care about you. If you want to talk to people, you will get as many different responses as there are people. Some will be glad to share their stories. Others will never want to talk about it.
Has anyone been there recently or know what the situations is and how visitors are perceived?I travel twice per year, visiting mainly the tourist sites, where visitors are naturally welcomed with positive feelings. I guess it depends with what purpose you visit what places. But generally I think there are three main perceptions:
1) Positive feelings that there is interest in the area. Positive feelings that tourists are returning. One major fear of many locals is that the region is being forgotten.
2) No interest. People are used to see visitors. They won't be interested in just another one. I think that is by far the most common one.
3) Annoyance. This is very rare, but in some areas there are some locals who get annoyed by inconveniences cause by snoopy visitors. Practical everyday things like parking, invading private property for photograph taking, etc. As long as you behave respectfully, you are very unlikely to encounter this.
Do you know if there is any kind of accomodation in the area (I guess there is in Kesennuma) or will I have to go back to Sendai or Fukushima?Yes, there are many hotels along the coast. The Japanese version of Rakuten Travel lists most of them. Maybe also the English version.
In Kesennuma I have repeatedly stayed at the Pearl Hotel:
http://www.hmi-hotel.co.jp/miyagi/kesen/There are also nice resort hotels. A simple one on Oshima Island in Kesennuma is the following:
http://travel.rakuten.com/hotelinfo/11/52111/A wonderful hotel further north where I love to stay:
http://www.japanican.com/en/hotel/detail/2312001/?ar=03
