Why did you go THERE

When tourists come to Japan, they usually take the Golden Route to see the major tourist spots of Japan. This includes Tokyo, Kyoto and everything noteworthy in between. So naturally, during our week off from university, some of the other exchange students went to the Kansai region and visited the big major tourist cities there: Osaka, Kyoto and Nara. I also wanted to travel around during my week off and I didn’t go to the Kansai region either until now. So of course I did the only logical thing and booked a hotel and a nightbus and  off I went… towards the exact opposite direction: Sendai.

Sendai is the biggest city of the Tohoku region, the northern part of the main island of Japan. Nevertheless, not a lot of tourists come here compared to other parts of Japan. Maybe because its colder here, or there aren’t that many sightseeing spots here, or its far of the normal way of traveling in Japan. In any case, I, being a passionate swim-against-the-current-just-because guy, decided to spend my week off university in a region no one normally goes to. I mean, every single person I told I’m going to Sendai, looked at me in disbelief and asked why exactly I chose to go there. To be honest, I didn’t really have a proper answer to that question and I mainly just pulled random arguments out of my ass.

So I booked three nights in a hotel and a nightbus to get to Sendai and back. So here it goes, buckle up buddy ‘cause this is gonna be a long one.

Day 1 - Sendai, the City of Trees

The Beginning

Nightbuses are a wonderful invention. They are cheaper than other means of transportation, not least because you save the money for an accommodation for the night. You can also start your day at your destination early in the morning, as you normally reach your destination in the early morning hours. However, these benefits come at a cost: the length of the ride and comfort. It takes significantly longer to reach your destination with a nightbus and the seats are, to put it mildly, pretty shitty to sleep on. I still managed to sleep a little and was only woken up every time we stopped for a pause. Which was kinda often. But oh well, that happens when you want to travel cheap.

I arrived in Sendai at around 5:30am. It was still dark outside and, what made it even worse, cold as fuck. Luckily I learned from my painful freezing experience in Nikko and actually wore some long pants and a coat instead of my iconic shorts and sweater style. Anyway, the other passengers determinedly walked somewhere, so I just tagged along and followed the mob. Mainly because I didn’t know where to go and I couldn’t be bothered to look it up. Lo and behold I end up at Sendai Station. As a true tourist, I whipped out my phone and quickly snapped some pictures before going inside and exploring the station.

However, as you would expect, all stores were closed and the whole station was empty. Well, except for those weird few people like myself just wandering around the station. The check-in for my hotel was only possible after 4pm, so I locked up my luggage in a coin locker in the station and started my journey in Sendai.

The Better Option

My first stop was the Zuihoden Mausoleum Complex, where Date Masamune the grounder of the Sendai domain and his heir are buried. However, on my way there I randomly walked onto the campus of an university. Upon further examination, and by that I mean looking at Google Maps, I figured out this was indeed the campus of the Tohoku University. Fun Fact: when applying for the exchange semester in Japan I could decide on two universities I wanted to visit. My university then picked one, according to whatever metric they use, and let me apply to that university. My first choice was Tohoku University in Sendai and my second was Keio University in Tokyo. It seems like they didn’t want to send me to Sendai so I came to Tokyo. No big deal I thought, I would have preferred Tohoku Universtiy, but whatever. However, now that I’ve visited Sendai I’m actually a little sad I didn’t get it, because I really like Sendai and the whole of Tohoku more than I do Tokyo. Nothing I can do there.

Anyway, the university campus was big and had small parks, green spaces and streets inside the campus itself. It looked really cool in there. And because it was so early it was completely empty and I could walk around undisturbed and take pictures without people running into my pictures.

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

One of the many benefits of actually waking up early for sightseeing is the lack of other humans everywhere. The streets where relatively empty, just a few cars were driving around and the morning sun slowly flooding the city with light are major reasons for being outside this early in the morning. I walked towards the mausoleum and experienced the beauty of Sendai. I quickly realized why its nickname is ‘the City of Trees’. The major streets in Sendai all have avenues with big trees on each side of the road or in the middle to separate the two lanes. They look incredible, especially in the sun where they shine in a golden color in autumn.

One of the main reasons I planned my trip to Sendai in November are the autumn colors. Sendai and its surrounding areas are gorgeous to look at with their colorful autumn foliage. On my way to the mausoleum I stumbled upon parks, the Hirose river and really cool views of the forests surrounding Sendai.

After walking for an eternity I finally arrived at the Zuihoden Mausoleum. The mausoleum is built on a hill, so the street leading there is very steep. And it also has a lot of steps. Again, because it was so early and also on a Thursday no one was there. I didn’t see a single person while walking around the mausoleum and the surrounding forest. There was short forest trail around mausoleum. It looked amazing there with the sun rays shining through the trees. I really enjoyed walking around there. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of being so early is the fact that everything is still closed. And so was the mausoleum itself too. Not that I minded at all, I wouldn’t have gone in there anyway. Or at least that’s what I tell myself now looking back at it.

Being Watched

I decided to get something to eat, so I went to the nearest 7-Eleven and bought myself some onigiris, pastries and a coffee. Normally Japanese people buy their stuff at convenience stores and then just eat it there and then continue their day. Of course I didn’t want to do that. It was excellent weather outside and there was a park nearby so I went there. I sat down on a stone bench there and then started to eat. Or rather I wanted to start, but couldn’t ignore the fact that there was a flock of crows over my head, watching me. I heard stories of other people who got their food snatched out of their hand by these bastards, so I was hesitant to start eating. I walked around the park a little more, but couldn’t find another spot to sit down, so I went back and said ‘Fuck it’ and started to eat. Luckily the crows left after some time and I could eat in peace. I swear, if one of those fuckers had snatched my breakfast from my hands I would have chased it down and made it my fucking lunch. By the way, the onigiri in the picture is the best one I’ve had thus far (‘tuna cod roe with chili oil and soy sauce’). If you ever stumble upon it, give it a try.

Peace and Quiet

My next destination was the Rinno-ji, a temple in northern Sendai. To be honest, I went there and completely missed the temple. I don’t know how that happened, but I just went through the side walk around the temple and got to the graveyard of the temple. I just thought that’s it and went through the graveyard. It was huge. I slowly walked through the main street, kinda feeling peaceful there. It was quiet and only the rustling of the leaves in the wind and my footsteps could be heard. I walked a while before coming out on the other side of the graveyard, where I had a good view of the residential areas of Sendai. I was just standing there for a few minutes and staring into the distance, thinking of my life, my friends and at some point thinking nothing at all. It was kinda meditative, kinda relieving.

Afterwards I made my way to the hotel and checked in. It was 5pm and I was already tired as fuck after being awake for 12 hours and walking around for an eternity. So I took a quick nap and then went back to the city. I kinda aimlessly wandered around the city at this point and just looked at shops and the city lights in the dark. Nothing really interesting anymore. So to round-off the day, here are some more sexy pictures of my first day in Sendai:

Day 2 - Matsushima Bay and its Unending Islands

Change of plans - The Story

My initial plan for my second day was to go to Yamagata prefecture and visit Yamadera. However, a series of events the night beforehand prevented those plans from actually happening. When I got back to the hotel after the first day, I planned my next few days. Where I’d go and what I’d visit there. Afterwards I went to bed and, like the responsible adult I am, I went to sleep, so I’d be rested the next morning. Just kidding, I was laying in bed and watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. I finished one episode and then, despite being tired as fuck, started another one. Mid episode I just dozed off and fell asleep. See, the problem was, my phone’s battery was nearly drained and Netflix happily let the episode finish and automatically started the next one. At some point my phone just died and shut off. There went my alarm for the next day. So at some point the next day I wake up and naturally reach for my phone to check the time. It wasn’t at the charger and I was kinda confused. Then I saw my phone laying next to me. I picked it up and realized it was turned off. And then it dawned on me. I charged my phone, turned it on and checked the time. It was 10 and I had to leave at 7. There goes my plan down the drain. I just laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

The Backup

To not waste my day further I just switched my second and third day and went to Matsushima instead. The view of the Matshushima Bay is deemed one of the most scenic spots in Japan. And they really plaster that slogan everywhere. I mean everywhere.

The first thing I visited here, was a small island called Fukuoka. You had to cross a long red bridge to get to it. There were a few trails around the island and observation points from where you could see the numerous small islands in the bay. I have to give it to Matsushima, its bay actually has a beautiful scenery. Also, Fukuoka looked really cool with a blend of autumn colored trees, bamboo and the stone ways through the island. I was really impressed by the small island and definitely spend more time here than I thought I could do on such a small island.

Let’s Talk Plastic

Off the beaten path on Fukuoka you could actually go down to the shore of the island. While wandering around a few of those shores on different sides of the island I noticed one particular thing. There was plastic and garbage everywhere. And I mean it, fucking everywhere. Plastic bottles and packaging, ropes, Styrofoam. It was so disheartening to see all the garbage just laying there in midst of an otherwise beautiful scenery. I got pissed after seeing the second shore was also littered with garbage, but I didn’t really know what to do. There is not much I can do besides reducing the amount of plastic garbage I produce. So I just decided to do that. And I also think that’s a small and achievable goal for everyone. So get your shit together humans! I want to enjoy my nature trips and not be distracted by your fucking garbage.

The Density of Sushi

After Fukuoka I went to the main street of Matsushima Bay. There was a temple there on a small island, which you could reach by walking over another, this time smaller, bridge. On the other side away from the ocean, there was another temple. Its graves (at least I assume those were graves) were impressive. They were carved into the stone of the hill there, forming small caves.

Also, Matsushima has the highest density of sushi restaurants anywhere in Japan. Not the least because it gets its fish directly the local fishermen and therefore has one of the freshest sushi you can possible get. Consequently, nearly every shop at the main street at Matsushima Bay is a sushi restaurant or the occasional souvenir shop. Even though I’m not the biggest sushi fan, I was impressed by the taste of it. It was delicious. Every single piece of sushi on my plate was fucking amazing. Except the shrimp and I don’t mean the sushi, but rather the upper half of the shrimp that’s chilling on the upper-left of my plate. The whole fucking head and its long hard legs were still attached. That piece of ‘sushi’ was disgusting. The legs were crunchy and the rest way to soft and slimy. Funny enough, this was the only piece that had the typical fishy taste, which I don’t really like. All in all, I was positively impressed by the sushi and it was, for the most part, very delicious. I can definitely recommend this area for any sushi fanatic out there.

Day 3 - Yamadera, the Best View Ever

Loneliness

This time I actually woke up on time. I took the train to Sendai Station and from there another train towards Yamagata. I got off the train one station before Yamadera to take a hiking trail for the rest of the route. I was literally the only person that got off the train at that station. No one else was there, it was completely abandoned.

Directly next to the station were already multiple waterfalls, it looked amazing. The trail went along directly next to the river. The way was at most 30cm wide and at some points also just 20cm. It was covered in fallen leaves, so you couldn’t even see if you walked on solid stone or if your next step would be into soft mud. There was also no one else on this hiking trail and I was kinda nervous. If anything happened there, no one would have found me for at least a solid few hours and, in the worst case, multiple days. Imagine falling down the way and hitting your head on the rocks there. What the fuck are you then supposed to do? Well whatever, now there is no way turning back anymore.

At times the way continued on the other side of the river and you had to cross a small bridge. Those bridges were horrendous. They were soaked in water and felt like they would break anytime. Also they wiggled and wobbled every step you took. Fuck those bridges.

At some point I started to pick up bigger stones and throwing them into the water while shouting something stupid. Maybe I got mad after being alone on the trail for a long time, but I gotta say, that was hella fun. Just try it yourself: pick up a big stone, shout ‘YEET’ and throw it into the water as far away as you can.

After a while the trail along the river ended and it went back up to a road. The road directly lead to Yamadera and the view from here towards the mountains was incredible. The hike to Yamadera was definitely worth it.

The Motherfucking View

I finally reached Yamadera after maybe two or three hours of hiking. Yamadera means mountain temple and that is precisely what it is. A temple built into the mountain. Apparently there are 1000 stone steps in total to get to the top of the temple. I didn’t count, but it definitely added up… I guess. On the way up there are several buildings of the temple and a lot of little statues. At the top of the temple you can buy some things at the temple shop, like charms and fortune papers. The view from here is kinda meh, because there are several high buildings and the sides of the mountain blocking your way.

However, a little lower and to the side of the mountain there is an observation deck. Here is were the good shit is at.

If that isn’t sexy, I don’t know what is.

Day 4 - Sendai, the Misty Boi

To round off my trip I finished everything I didn’t do on my first day in Sendai, which was admittedly not that much. It was also pretty shitty weather. It was raining and you could barely see more than a dozen meters in front of you from all the mist. I visited the Sendai City Museum and the Aoba Castle Ruins. Here I also tried Sendai’s food specialties: Zunde shake and Gyutan. Zunde shake is blended Edamame beans in a milkshake. It sounds bad, but it actually tastes really good. Sweet, salty and thick, just how I like my milkshakes. The other specialty Gyutan, beef tongue, was… well it was kinda bad. The texture was off and it didn’t really taste good. Also some pieces were way too chewy. To sum it up: Fuck the weather, marry the Zunde shake and kill the Gyutan.

Afterwards I basically just aimlessly wandered around the city to kill time until my bus departed.

And that was my trip to Sendai. I really like Sendai as a city and its proximity to so many amazing places. I am definitely at some point going back there and exploring more of the nature surrounding Sendai.

Thank you for reading and see you next week :)
Ash