Summer Vacation Part 1: Matsushima

Before jet-setting our way across Asia for our summer trips to Tokyo, Bangkok, and Koh Chang, Kris and I went on a day-trip with our friend Bethany to nearby Matsushima.  Matsushima is an area along the bay made up of 250 tiny pine-covered islands.  The town of Matsushim is only about 30-45 minutes north of Sendai by train, which makes for a nice day trip.  We really enjoyed getting out of Sendai and being able to see a different part of Miyagi.



We started our trip by taking the train to Honshiogama.  Then we walked to the pier where we caught a ferry to Matsushima.  We could have just taken the train all the way to Matsushima, but we wanted to see the islands a little better.  I'm glad we went this way - it was our favorite part of the trip.   When we got on the boat they gave us small bags of this snack that is basically like cheetos but are shrimp-flavored.  I think they're gross and I thought it odd that it was a snack.  It wasn't until we went to the top of the boat that we discovered why they gave us that particular snack: the seagulls LOVE them!  We got to feed the seagulls from our hands!  As I held out a shrimp snack, a bird flew down and plucked it from my fingers.  It was awesome!  I shrieked everything, because it was a little scary.  Our friend Bethany was terrified of feeding them and kept pulling her hand away at the last second.  Eventually she was able to feed them without dropping the snack. 

 

Awesome boat at the pier -- too bad it wasn't the one we rode!



Us on the ferry



Really awesome island

Kris feeding the bird

 

Me feeding the bird

 



The Matsushima area was largely protected from the March 2011 tsunami by the many tiny islands (as they helped to break up the tsunami), but there was still evidence of destruction in some places.  We saw ships that had randomly washed up on the shore, rubble in the bottoms of some buildings in Honshiogama, and piles of wreckage on some of the piers there; but the town of Matsushima seemed pretty well unscathed.

Boats washed up on shore from the March 2011 tsunami

When we got to Matsushima, we had lunch under a tree that kind of resembled a large version of a bonsai tree.  Then we set out to explore. From the town, you can walk to a few small islands (via bridges).  The first island we went to was very small.  On it there was only a small temple, Godaido.  To get to the island, we had to walk across a small red bridge.  It has huge slates in it -- supposedly the priest that had the build bridge wanted big gaps in the bridge to help people coming to the temple concentrate and focus so they were ready to worship.

Tiny island with Godaido

Us on the bridge to Godaido -- notice the big slats in the bridge (which have since been covered with long, wide boards to make them more tourist-friendly)

Cool tree we sat under to eat lunch

Prayers written on paper and hung next to a temple

Next we walked to the largest of the three nearby islands, Fukuurajima.  It was almost like a small jungle on an island, full of natural growth -- and natural bugs (hello mosquitoes!).  There were some temples on the island as well.  To get to the island, we walked across a long bridge.  Local superstition says that if you walk across the bridge with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you will break up.  Good thing Kris is my spouse -- loophole in the superstition! :-)



Bridge to Fukuurajima



Bethany and I



Beautiful tree on the island



After that, we got a little lost wandering around the town.   The map we had was not to scale, so we couldn't find the look-out spot from which we could view the bay.  We were so tired and hot by the time we wandered back into the main part of the town that we gave up on the idea.  Instead we went to Zuiganji Temple.  The tree-lined walk way to the temple and the nearby caves were beautiful.  The main hall was closed and under renovation, so we didn't get to see it.  But we did get to view the Kuri (Zen kitchen for monks), Otamaya ( the masoleum of Date Masamune's wife), and a small museum.  We had to take off our shoes before going into the Zuri.  Inside, in one of the rooms, there were a few creepy statues of monks and we couldn't take any pictures.  You had to be really quite (so quiet you could hear a pin drop), and the guard to the room was staring at us with death-ray eyes.



Tree-lined approach to Zuiganji Temple



Kris next to one of the trees



Ancestral shrines in a nearby cave



Cemetery near the cave



Zuri from the outside

Temple Courtyard

We had to take our shoes off before entering the Zuri

Next to Zuigani is Ensuin, a smaller temple with a mausoleum of Mitsumune (Lord Date Masamune's grandson) and a large garden split up into different parts.  This was probably my second favorite part of the trip.  The garden has several small areas inside -- a zen rock garden, a small pond, a rose garden, a moss garden, and a cemetery.  There was also a small temple for the goddess of mercy and people were making Buddhist bracelets in the temple.

Zen rock garden

Masoleum of the grandson of Date Masamune

The inside of the mausoleum is plated in gold.  It's hard to see in this picture, but in the shrine are 7 statues.  These 7 statues represent Mitsumune's 7 retainers who committed ritualistic suicide after their master was killed.



Rose garden -- as you can see, the roses aren't in bloom



Cemetery

Kris in front of some cool trees

Me and Bethany on a bench made from tree stumps

Lovely pond

Statue of goddess of mercy, inside a small temple

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

Typhoon Roke hit Japan today, and I must say, I'm kind of enjoying it.  Now, this is easy for me to say, as we are really on the fringes of the storm.  I'm sure people in southern Japan, especially in Nagoya, won't share this sentiment.  But here in Sendai the typhoon has just amounted to some wind and nonstop rain for the past 48 hours (and still going).  Two nights ago, when the rain started, I was thrilled about the cooler temperatures (it has been ridiculously hot here until the typhoon started) and the relaxation brought on by the steady drone of rain falling.  The way my mood perked up as I walked to class in my rain gear and rain coat with the rain pouring, you would have thought it was a nice spring day after a long winter!  Kris and I even went on a rain walk last night after class!

Today the rain continued, and I wasn't the least bit disappointed, as it lulled me back to sleep -- it is Wednesday after all, the weekly Marshall family sleep in day.  As we got ready for work, Kris' boss called and offered to pick us up for work so we didn't have to walk in the downpour.  That was so nice of him!  When he picked us up, he told us that classes had been cancelled for the day -- and we didn't realize until a few minutes into the conversation that he was telling the truth and not joking.  I thought, yeah, right!  This is Japan - they won't cancel classes just for rain!  But when he told us that other schools had canceled for the day or sent students home early and that some trains had stopped running, we realized he was serious.  Neither of us had ever lived in a place where school had ever been canceled for rain, so we had a hard time grasping it.  I guess that goes to show you how little we know about typhoons and hurricanes!

What I like about this rain is that it seems to coax the city into a sleepy, quiet, lazy existence -- just temporarily.  It's kind of like a big snow fall in that sense. At school we both had quiet work days.  It was nice to be able to work ahead and have meetings so that we won't be frantic later in the week or have to come in early this week. Oh, and by the way, Monday and Friday are national holidays, so the students only had 4 normal class days to begin with this week anyway!

One of Greg's students, who always comes late and often misses school for various vacations, came early today and set up his classroom for him -- even though there was no one in the building and no lights were on (because our classrooms are in a building in the upper campus).  Then the student left.  And Greg had to walk up the hill in the rain and put all the set up away.  It was pretty funny considering this would never happen on any other day!

After work, a bunch of us went to get udon at a nearby restaurant because no one wanted to work until the cafeteria opened and no one wanted to go home and come back to work and walk home again in the rain.  Two coworkers drove us all to the restaurant, but afterwards there wasn't room for both Kris and I (as he had gotten dropped off by someone else), so we walked home.  The wind was blowing the rain sideways, so we both got soaked despite having umbrellas.  I laughed the whole way home about the absurdity of the situation and how both of us had considered wearing our raincoats and then changed our minds.

We're cozied up now under warm blankets while the rain continues to come down.  I'll enjoy falling asleep to the rain tonight because I'm pretty sure tomorrow life will be back to normal and the rain will stop.  I just hope the hot weather doesn't come back.