travel

Tohokool: Matsushima Part One

12:50 AM


If you don't like seagulls, look away now.

Firstly, thank you everyone for the wonderful response to my giveaway!

I'm a little confused though. Somehow I gained more followers yesterday than people who actually entered the draw. Maybe they followed in anticipation of the next giveaway? Haha, welcome everyone anyway.

Anyway, today's post is the start of a series - Tohokool!

I live in Sendai, capital of Miyagi prefecture and the main city in the Tohoku region of Japan.

It's a really great place to be but because it's north of Tokyo and so far away from the Kansai hot spots, no one ever comes here! :(

In "Tohokool", I want to showcase some of the beautiful and interesting things that Tohoku has to offer.

I know many of you are coming to Japan this Summer/Autumn - Sendai is less than two hours away from Tokyo by train. You could do a day trip if you wanted!

Sendai happens to be home to Matsushima, one of the 3 most scenic places in Japan (according to the poet Basho).

A couple of weeks ago I took a tour-ferry around some of the islands. To be honest, I prefer exploring them by foot but we saw some stunning rock-faces and had fun feeding the seagulls that followed the boat.

I won't comment much, just sit back and enjoy :)



Local curry pan, with a piece of oyster inside.





The ship sold packets of prawn-flavoured crisps that the birds were addicted to.




Brings me back to geography class in secondary school!





Look how one rock is balanced on the other!



Enemy boat, fire at will!



Michelangelo's "The Creation of Man" (by Mr Miruku)


I was in charge of food supplies. A random American tourist gave me these out of pity!


Desperate times call for...picking up crumbs from the floor. Oh the shame...





Imagine life on one of these semi-inhabited islands, relying on the twice-daily ferry...


Back at port, the queues for the next ferry


Annoying romanisation, but a very necessary warning in this part of the world.


After the ferry trip, we went through the magic entrance to explore the first island!

So are you at all tempted yet?

If you read my blog regularly, I think I have shown you that there is lots of nice shopping etc in Sendai. However, you can say that about any big city in Japan.

So I hope you enjoyed some of the more relaxing sights of Tohoku - the best is yet to come!

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26 comments

  1. Haha! I'm one of those who followed but didn't enter! I'm in Japan right now so that's why I didn't bother. But I really like your blog, so I wanted to follow it anyway...

    Those seagull pictures are amazing. Matsushima looks quite nice, I kind of want to go now!

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  2. I'm not fond of give aways but wanted to follow you as you seem cute and fun :)

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  3. I'm not a fan of birds but the last photo really caught my attention! I love being surrounded with trees!

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  4. Ahhh I don't like seagulls, but I understand their addiction, those prawn flavoured crisps are yummy!

    I mentioned you in my post...but like I said, I'm just happy that I found a fellow Arashi fan! High five!

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  5. oh wow I have been wanting to go to the sea side lately :D

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  6. hey. that is right. i don't order often there because i don't know if the clothes have the right size. but it's hard to resist.

    your post ist really interesting. i like such places but i think i will not have time to visit this area. 3 weeks are to short :( we will visit tokyo, kyoto and shikok (matsuyama) and nagano. but my friend went to matsushima 2 years ago and she loved it.

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  7. I really like your blog!
    It's very nice★
    I'm following you ヽ(  ´  ∇  `  )ノ

    My favourite member of my favourite band is from Sendai! (*´∀`*)

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  8. I really like your blog, and so do many others, too, so they don't need a giveaway to follow, hahaha!

    I wanna visit Tohoku region in my year of Working Holiday, I've never been to the North of Japan! (But have seen Kyuushuu, Shikoku, Kansai and Kanto region so much). That would be a chance to meet up, right?

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  9. i like ur blog, everything is so real fr ur daily life, not much advertisement, and ur cute!

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  10. I know, I wonder if people just forget to join the giveaway? Anyway, it's great yo have new followers!

    I always meant to go to Sendai (my 4th bf was from there) I hope I can someday still get there. Thank you for sharing the photos, it looks very lovely!

    And Mr Miruku has cool hair! hehe XD

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  11. Love the seagulls pictures. I didn't they were so many!

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  12. Markie - Thanks for telling me! I see you're in Sapporo? I love that city, it has such an interesting international vibe!

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  13. Claire - You're soooo sweet, thank you! :)

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  14. diyanahomie - Then you're going to love the next set of pics where we explored the island!

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  15. Winnie - Haha, fan doesn't even beging to describe me! I think, many many years ago, it was Arashi that set me on the road to where I am now. Arashi is a way of life! :)

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  16. Saving Capulet - Me too! This wasn't enough, I want to go to the beach!

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  17. Connys World - You're right, 3 weeks is not enough. You already have a good schedule planned! But please remember Matsushima next time!

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  18. Sarah - Hmmm, I know Hey!Say!JUMP members and NIGHTMARE members are from Sendai. But you like An Cafe right? I didn't know they have a Sendai connection!

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  19. Thanh Thao - Absolutely! I'd love to hang out with you. Someday let's make a plan!

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  20. STEPHENIE WONG - Well, I have nothing to advertise! So it's just me, glad you like it :)

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  21. さらまり - You should visit sometime when I'm still here! Although Sendai is so cool it doesn't need me, haha. I'll pass on the compliment to Mr M, he needs cheering up right now!

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  22. petitechouxx - Yep, we were surrounded by them! Too much!

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  23. Naka - Almost like we were being attacked! Oh no!

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  24. LOL -- international vibe?! well... I never thought I'd hear that about Sapporo! It is quite nice though. A good balance of big city yet not quite overcrowded... perfect I think for someone like me who hails from a US state that has a total population smaller than the entire city of Sapporo.

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  25. Markie - Compared to the other big cities in Japan, I feel Sapporo is a lot less "Japanese". It's very refreshing, probably due to Hokkaido's unique cultural influences.

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