Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part Two

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part Two
Nov 072007
 

Oku-Matsushima, A Hidden Gem… If you could hide something that big.

At the station, I got on the train to Nobiru. When I got there, I talked to the lady in the shop at the station, and rented the bicycle (there’s only one, and it was available!) for 300 yen for 4 hours. I was warned– the shop closes at 5 (of course), so I had to get the bike back by then.

I got my bike at 3 p.m., so I had to hustle, just like in Togakushi. I’ll admit it. I like working to a tight deadline, because it focuses me.

It’s 5 km to Otakamori, which is a really big hill/tiny mountain. According to Lonely Planet, it’s the best way to see the islands that make up Matsushima. So I got on the bike.

The ride was easy on my legs and my eyes. The terrain was mostly flat, with small, gentle hills, but nothing too taxing. There was lots of pretty scenery I didn’t have time to photograph, but it’s worth the trip. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get there, because at the 2.5 km to go point, the signs don’t say much more until you get there. (It reminds me of New Jersey in that regard.) But it’s pretty much a straight shot.

When I found the mountain, I saw that there were 2 trails. I just picked one with a parking lot nearby to park my bike and leave. (First I grabbed some water because I was already hurting. Vending machines really are everywhere!)

If the view from the parking lot is this good, then the Magnificent View must really be magnificent!

Oku Matsushima

Now we climb a big stairway:

Climbing Otakamori

I stopped for a few photos at the top of the stairs:

Climbing Otakamori

This is the road I came in on:

Climbing Otakamori

Climbing Otakamori

I started climbing again. It hurt after a long bike ride.

Then I see the first sign– 700m to the top.

Climbing Otakamori

The part of me that didn’t die in Togakushi… dies. It’s not a fun climb at all. It’s steep, uneven, and painful after a 5 km bike ride. My thighs officially hate me now. More climbing. More pain.

Climbing Otakamori

I pass through an area full of dragonflies. Neat. Then I pass an area full of bluebottle flies. Not so neat. I hate those. I think they could sense that I was exhausted, so they buzzed me constantly.

400 meters to the summit!

Climbing Otakamori

Catching glimpses of the view:

Climbing Otakamori

More climbing:

Climbing Otakamori

And more glimpses:

Climbing Otakamori

I liked this sign as I got near the top. It’s telling you to put out your cigarettes completely! So do it!

Climbing Otakamori

After about 20 minutes, I made it to the top.

Wow.

The Best Matsushima Experience Money Can’t Buy (The Magnificent View)

It’s another one of those OHMYGOD moments. The views were stunning. Just incredible. The sun was about to set in about 30 minutes, so the light was dramatic and golden, and just wonderful. There were five of us at the summit, and we were all sort of grinning to ourselves, because we were having the best Matsushima experience you can have.

And it was free.

No boats, no tour groups, no megaphones, no broken English explanations of rocks, no  seagulls, no cheesy souvenirs. Just a couple of benches, an info map thing, and a little covered area to sit.

Oh, and some of the most incredible scenery ever.

In Japan, this spot gives what’s called the “Magnificent View” of Matsushima. Indeed.

I felt smart again. I was feeling dumb earlier in the day when I first got to Matsushima. Now I felt like I was smart again. Whew.

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

That road is the road I rode my rental bike on:

The Magnificent View

close-up:

The Magnificent View

More of the non-Matsushima side:

The Magnificent View

Back to the Matsushima side again, with a wide-angle adapter:

The Magnificent View

 

The Magnificent View

 

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

This guide stone shows the names and locations of islands and landmarks:

Guide Stone

Pull out a bit and you see it on the summit:

Otakamori Summit

Some close ups of the bay:

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

The Magnificent View

Close up of the town:

The Magnificent View

Now the hard part: getting back. If I thought uphill was bad, downhill was worse, because it was a controlled crash down the hill. I was trying to keep momentum up without falling, and everything was uneven. Not fun. But I was still glowing from the view and the pictures.

I took a few photos from the top of the stairs, since it was sunset. Or almost sunset:

Sunset from the top of the stairs. The conical buildings are a museum of ancient artifacts:

View from the top of the Stairs on the Way Down

View from the top of the Stairs on the Way Down

View from the top of the Stairs on the Way Down

Last shot as I left on my bike:

Parting Shot

Then the bike ride back. Ouch. 5 km of more pain. I made it back in time, though, with about 20 minutes to spare.

I got on the train (it was a local. Dang.), and sat there for a minute. Then I saw a limited express come in… and I thought it said “Sendai” on it. So I jumped on board… and promptly went the wrong way. D’oh. 2 stops later, I wound up in Rikuzen-Ono Station. It was the tiniest train station I’ve seen. Ever. The scenery was pretty, though, so I didn’t feel too bad about the screw-up.

I took some photos with my Motorola Razr V3X, so they’re not all that hot:

Rikuzen Ono Station:

Rikuzen-Ono Station

Rikuzen-Ono Station

Rikuzen-Ono Station

Dusk on the platform:

Rikuzen-Ono Station

Rikuzen-Ono Station

I waited another 15-20 minutes, enjoyed the scenery, and caught a limited express back to Sendai. (This time I double-checked.)

OMG Taiyaki

Then dinner. More raiding of various department stores. The department stores here totally rock. You can find just about anything there. I got some yakitori with negi… it’s grilled chicken and spring onions on a stick in a sweet soy-based sauce, then I grabbed some more tonkatsu chunks (breaded deep fried pork.) For dessert, I stood in line 30 minutes for taiyaki.

Taiyaki is a grilled pastry (sort of like waffles) with paste inside in the shape of a carp. I mentioned it a few posts ago. It was very hot, and very good. They had red bean paste and cream, so I got one of each. I think I like the cream better, but if they had chocolate, I’d never leave.

Probably because I wouldn’t fit on the airplane anymore.

Then I headed back here to the hotel to collapse.

I think I walked about 5-6 km again today, with about 10 km of cycling mixed in. No wonder I’m so hungry all the time.

The Lonely Planet guide isn’t 100%, but it got this right. Definitely go to Oku-Matsushima and climb that blasted hill. It’s another one of those, “Oh yeah, this is why I travel,” moments.

Tomorrow is my last Shinkansen ride– to Tokyo for 6 days of sight-seeing and rabid purchasing.

Fun.

Then I can come back to the U.S. and experience reverse culture shock.

Note from 8/2011: The 3/11 tsunami caused a lot of damage to the Tohoku region, and it pretty much wiped out Nobiru, a lot of the buildings and the road I rode to Otakamori, and the little station I wound up in accidentally, Rikuzen-Ono, which was near Higashi Matsushima. The tsunami even got one of the local trains as it was moving up the coast.

Miyatojima, the island that Otakamori is located on, was cut off from the mainland by the tsunami, but I haven’t heard any updates recently.

Matsushima itself didn’t get much in the way of damage, because it was shielded by its bay, but parts of Sendai (especially near the coast) got heavily damaged. Choumei-Ana in the last post was destroyed.

Before venturing to the area, you should definitely call ahead to make sure that the roads are clear, and that you won’t be a burden.

Otherwise, it’s a great place, full of great people who could really use your help and your tourist dollars. (And maybe while you’re there, you could volunteer a little, too!)

This is yet another reminder that every place I visit, I should treat as though I might not ever get the chance to see it again. If the events of 9/11 and 3/11 didn’t highlight this lesson for me, the recent London riots have underlined it for me.

Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part One.

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part One.
Nov 072007
 

Today I went to Matsushima. Matsushima is one of the traditional Three Famous Sights You Have to See in Japan. Miyajima is one of the others, and the third is the Heavenly Bridge, which I had to skip due to time constraints.

Matsushima is Japanese for Pine Island or Islands, since nouns in Japanese can refer to either the singular and plural.

In this case it’s really plural.

There are more than 250 islands, covered with scraggly pine trees. And because it’s on the Top Three list, it means there’s never any shortage of tourists coming to see it. Raises hand.

I slept in again today until 9:30 to make sure I was really well-rested, because I knew I’d need all of my energy to get through this day. Sure enough, I went through all of my reserves.

To get to Matsushima, I took the Senseki line to Matsushima Kaigan. Don’t take the other line to Matsushima, because it’ll add a bunch of time to your trip. It took me about 40 minutes to get there. Try to aim for a limited express train, and not a local. Local trains are really slow.

The Bird Boat

The Lonely Planet guidebook says that Matsushima is overrun with touristy stuff. Yep! They also say that the cruises through the bay are really cheesy. Yep again!

Approaching the docks:

Matsushima Docks

The boat I didn’t take:

Ryuuhou's Final Cruise

It looks impressive on the water, but a little cheesy:

The Ryuuhou

Cheesiness aside, the cruises do offer a few interesting points:

  1. It’s a boat ride. Fun! At one point, we left the bay and were in the Pacific Ocean.
  2. It’s an opportunity to dump 1400-2000 yen into the local economy. I bought a ticket for 1400 yen, then was offered the chance to upgrade to first class for 600 more yen. It’s a no-brainer, if a bit of a bait-and-switch. But I went first class anyway, because that way I could go outside and take pictures from the upper deck. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in a stifling hot cabin packed in with the other tourists. If I was going to the trouble to come all the way here, then I might as well go first class! (They already got me for 1400 yen anyway. 600 more? Sure, why not.)
  3. There are English explanations, albeit a bit odd. I think the woman giving them was doing it in a Russian accent.
  4. You get to see Japanese people enjoy themselves feeding seagulls.

Wait. Huh?

Yes. The big deal with the cruise for me was to see the islands. For everyone else outside on the deck, they were more interested in feeding snacks to aquatic sky rats. My brain totally jumped the tracks on that one.

Seagulls.

Seagulls.

I’ll admit it.  I’ve never thought much of seagulls. They’re just pigeons of the sea, and pigeons are sky rats. So I was totally and utterly confused as to why anyone would think feeding garbage-picking birds would be fun.

Maybe it’s because I was born on a beach, and spent a small chunk of my life near there (in spite of my pale skin). Maybe that has colored my perceptions.

The other annoying thing about the seagulls– they got in the way of half of the pictures I took. There was a huge swarm of them all over the boat, flying around the back end. Ugh. Just… ugh. I wanted to shake the other passengers. “Do you know what you’re doing?!?”

Even if you happen to like seagulls, it’s bad to feed them people food, let alone junk food.

Anyway.

I got some decent shots, I think. And I met a nice retired couple. We had a nice exchange consisting of English and Japanese.

The islands were very nice, when I could see them. See for yourself!

Futagojima (twin islands):

Matsushima Cruise--Futagojima

Close-up (the angle of this island changed as we were moving, if I remember correctly):

Matsushima Cruise--Futagojima

Kaneshima:

Matsushima Cruise-- Kaneshima

Close-up:

Matsushima Cruise-- Kaneshima

Komonejima–Choumei Ana (Update: the thin bridge of rock was destroyed on 3/11 in one of the massive earthquakes):

Matsushima Cruise--Komonejima--Choumei Ana

Komonejima rocks (rocks around Komonejima, to be more accurate!):

Matsushima Cruise--Komonejima

Nioujima:

Matsushima Cruise -- Nioujima

One of many pretty islands I don’t know the name of:

Matsushima Cruise

People work here, too:

Matsushima Cruise

The town of Uratoishihama:

Matsushima Cruise--Uratoishihama

Matsushima, the town, as we start to finish our loop:

Matsushima Cruise

Matsushima Cruise

Coming into port, hoping we don’t all collide:

Coming into Port

Safely approaching the docks! The next groups are already waiting for us to get off the boat already!

Matsushima Cruise

If you want to take the cruise and feed the seagulls, the boats leave at the top of the hour. Just find an old guy with a blue baseball cap. There were dozens of them all over the island, and they all work for the cruise boats to get people there. (That was another Weird Thing. I saw them all over the place.)

Yet another thing about Matsushima you need to know– there’s barely anything in English here. I don’t know if it’s just not popular with the foreign tourists or if it’s something else. You can get a very basic map, and that’s about it.

Oshima

After my adventure among the gulls, it was time to explore some more. There are two islands nearby that you can explore. The little one is Oshima, and the big one is Fukuurajima. There are also famous temples here, but I skipped them. I’m totally burned out.

I was cold, so I went inside the ferry office and got a can of hot cocoa. Canned hot drinks are awesome. You can usually get them from most vending machines, depending on the season. Coffee is the most popular, but you can also get cocoa and then there’s weird Japanese stuff, too, like hot sweet red bean soup. The cocoa is actually pretty hot. You can use the can as a warmer in a pinch. Man, I wish we had those in the U.S.

Heated up, I went to Oshima first. It was very small, very quiet, very nice. Lots of old Buddhist statues, an old shrine, a nice red bridge. Nice stuff. Have a look:

Heading to Oshima:

Looking for Oshima

The path feels like I’m heading to a secret base of some sort. It’s pretty cool.

The path to Oshima

Path to Oshima

Path to Oshima

The bridge is very picturesque:

Bridge to Oshima

Bridge to Oshima

Crossing the bridge!

Bridge to Oshima

The views from Oshima are great. Futagojima:

Futagojima from Oshima

Futagojima from Oshima

Fall colors–a Japanese Maple:

Oshima--Fall Colors

Oshima--Fall Colors

There are a bunch of stone carvings and statues around Oshima:

Path to Oshima

Oshima--Stone Carvings (Statues?)

Oshima--Statue

And a tunnel of sorts:

Oshima--Tunnel

Heading back to Matsushima, I saw this scene:

Oshima Bridge

Fukuurajima

Then I hiked 1 km to Fukuurajima. It has a big red bridge you can’t miss.

Fukuura Bridge, from the boat earlier in the day:

Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

As I approach it from land:

Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

And a 200 yen toll to cross that bridge.

Fukuura Bridge (Toll) Toll Gate

Aww, man.

I paid the toll, anyway.

Mid-bridge view:

Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

Scenery of Fukuurajima from the bridge:

View from the Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

View from the Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

View from the Fukuura Bridge (Toll)

Map:

Fukuurajima Map

I walked across the 280-meter bridge, looked around for 5 minutes, saw there wasn’t much to see besides more shrines and tour groups, and headed out. I decided it was time to move on.

There are other things to see in Matsushima, but it’s touristy in the same way a lot of big Japanese tourist spots are.

Last shot of Matsushima from the bridge before I left for Oku-Matsushima:

Matsushima from the Fukuura Bridge

I headed back to the station to go to Oku-Matsushima, the hidden gem that the big tours skip. Well, that’s what my guidebook said, and so far it had done a good job.

As I was heading back to the station, I bought some french fries in a cone.  It’s pretty clever if you ask me. The fries stand up perfectly straight, so you can eat them hands-free as you walk. Multitasking!

Continued in Part Two!

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