Day 9 - Matsushima Bay

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Not just another excuse for shinkansen and bento, we ventured north to Sendai and Matsushima Bay (thanks Hugh and Judy for the recommendation!!) We changed at Sendai to a local train to Hon-Shiogama station and then walked to the ferry terminal for a sightseeing cruise of Matsushima Bay.

Before boarding we had a look around the local shops which included seafood stalls with oysters and scallops, crabs and huge whole fish. We got a pre-cruise drink of giant cans of mountain dew and white soda pop from the vending machines.

It was hard work, but we managed to photograph most of the 260 islands that make up the bay (but Melly says there’s more like 255 rocks sticking out of the water and 5 islands). The bay is one of the 3 great sights of Japan and the islands are some beautiful formations of volcanic rock shaped over time by waves and earthquakes.

The cruise ended at the main hub of Matsushima Bay and we had a walk around to take in the sights, shrines and temples, the usual. We walked across the bridge to Fukuura island which had beautiful rainforest and camellias, as well as rare and protected orchids and big open fields. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any pandas.

Back to the main part of town, we did some more walking and discovered a Kokeshi doll maker and shop. Sendai and the surrounding area is historically famous for these dolls and where some of the individual styles originated. Interestingly the Mii characters on the Wii are based on Kokeshi dolls.
To Melly’s delight, they make plain carved dolls for customers to paint themselves. She was able to sit at a table and design her own doll! Unfortunately there were only 3 colours and large sized brushes. Nevertheless it was very exciting, she had a lovely time and made a gorgeous doll.

Got some yummy French fries from a stall on the walk back to the train station and made our way back by local train and shinkansen to Ueno.

In the evening we decided to attempt repacking our bags in preparation for leaving...a bit of doubt was creeping when comparing the growing piles of souvenirs with the size of our suitcases...

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