Today I traveled to Matsushima, about a half hour by train north of Sendai. This is a picturesque bay with an abundance of small islands and is said to be one of the ‘three most scenic spots in Japan’.
Shortly after arriving I spotted a scenic cruise boat, and seconds later I was onboard for a wonderful hour-long cruise around the bay.
The commentary related many historic stories about various islands, as every minute the ship passed a new one. Cruises are very popular here, with several companies running multiple boats packed with people. Today was sunny and warm, and the breeze off the ocean was lovely.
I learned that historically Matsushima Bay (which is known for its oysters) is said to have 808 islands, but in reality the number is about 260. They range from tiny ones not bigger than a chair to larger ones with people living on them.
I’ll add that when we got to the entrance of the bay the board pitched and rolled quite a bit and I didn’t even get slightly seasick. It seems I’ve beaten that weakness 🙂
A few of the islands are linked to land by pedestrian bridges, and after the cruise I set out to visit them. On the way I found this manhole cover featuring the Pokémon Lapras. I later learned this is one of many to be found all along the coast in this part of Japan. Wouldn’t it be an adventure to hunt them all down?
This bridge connects to a small island called Oshima south of the docks. The cliff leading to the island is carved like the ones I saw yesterday at Yamadera, and I learned these are ‘meditation caves’ once used by monks:
At the end of a short walk on the island a 3-meter tall stone monument can be found. This was erected in honour of a man that lived as an ascetic on the island for 22 years (this was hundreds of years ago), without ever crossing back to the mainland. As a result he was believed to be the reincarnation of a priest that had done the same decades earlier.
I’m in the part of Japan most affected by the 2011 earthquake, and Matsushima has many plaques in place to show the height of the tsunami. The line behind my head shows how deep the water was here, which is well above the Main dockside shopping street. Much of what I saw today was badly damaged or even destroyed in the tsunami, and it’s remarkable to see how complete rebuilding has been in the more than a decade since.
Matsushima town was overseen by the famous Sengoku-era Daimyo named Date Masamune. Souvenirs are decorated with cute likenesses of him, and there’s a museum of his life in town that I passed over. However there is a Buddhist temple called Zuigan-ji on the main street and since everyone seemed to be visiting I followed them inside.
It was a fascinating place. Famous for its elaborate painted screens (room dividers), it was a Date Masamune residence and much of the construction and ornamentation was at his behest. I took a tour inside the building, and while photos of the screens were forbidden, I believe the gardens were ok, or at least the security guy who watched me take the above had no reaction! I spent a while here wandering the grounds, visiting the museum of artifacts, and of course touring the main building to see the elaborate rooms.
I was so impressed I had to purchase an ema plaque that I felt suitably respected the 1300-year of the temple. This one is coming home with me 🙂
After lunch – call it a corn dog, Pluto pup, Dagwood dog, or ‘cooked sausage in fried dough batter’ (as the store I bought it from labeled it) – I stopped at the tiny Godaido island right in the middle of town.
The above building is where Date Masamune enshrined the ‘Five Wisdom Kings’ in 1604. They are only exhibited once every 33 years, so I can’t tell you anything about them, but the name is evocative and I’ll take a wild guess they’re a wise bunch 🙂
A few minute walk further north along the waterfront brought me to a long red bridge crossing to a larger island which is a nature reserve. The bridge cost ¥200 to cross, and since I rejected the little map I was offered I ended up going in circles a bit along the various paths on the island.
At this point I’ll mention that westerners are extremely few here, and in fact I saw none yesterday and only a few today (and none of them spoke English). This part of Japan is definitely off the usual tourist routes, with almost no English signage anywhere and locals that by and large don’t seem to know any English. It reminds me of the Japan we visited decades ago, and I’m enjoying it.
It was mid-afternoon by now and time to check in. I’m staying at a gigantic resort hotel and my room isn’t easily the biggest I’ve ever had in Japan, but may be the biggest hotel room I’ve ever had anywhere.
And look at my view:
And dare you disbelieve I actually took this photo, here’s another:
The glass on that massive window is freakishly clean. I can’t see it at all, and getting close makes me nervous so I have to put my hands out to know where the glass begins 🙂
This place is an onsen, which of course means hot springs. Only about 15 minutes after check-in I was soaking in them. Obviously photos are not permitted so I grabbed the above from the hotel website and it shows the very outdoor bath I’ve soaked in twice already today. There’s many different baths and I want to use them all (if possible) since the ones I’ve already tried are very hot, shoulder-deep and do wonders for my skin!
This is an all-inclusive resort hotel, which means breakfast and dinner are included, as well as all-you-can-drink booze (beer, wine, spirits) and various snacks. I joined a long line for the dinner buffet since everyone else seemed to have the same idea I did about arriving right when it opened.
I’ll be honest: I feel like a fish out of water. The food is very fancy – things like ark shell sushi and shark fin meunière are included – and the vast majority is not for me. Given this place was quite expensive I did my best and I have to say the tempura was wonderful (although I’ll never try conger eel again!) but this is more KLS’s thing and she’d have a field day with the offerings.
Dessert was incredible though. They called it a ‘fruit roll’ and the work this guy did preparing it for me was just excessive. He carefully cut and plated the slice before decorating with three types of sugar (I think), some jam and a mint leaf. I was expecting a simple slice on a plate but what I got was this:
It was super delicious! Loaded with fruit and fresh cream, I hope this one is on the menu again tomorrow night.
It’s almost bedtime now and they’ve lit trees along the waterfront to give us a night view. The baths are still open until after midnight, but I’m still ruined from yesterday and additionally ruined from the 20,000 steps I did today in the 80F+ heat, so I won’t go again until the morning.
And then I’ve got something really special planned for tomorrow…