In and Around Fukushima

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I’ve been in Japan for just over a week and I have already had the chance to sample some Japanese shopping in Sendai (twice!) and visit one of the famous conveyor belt, rotating sushi bars.

I still haven’t managed to grasp how cheap it is to dine out in restaurants here. At the sushi restaurant, approximately $8 Cdn covers more than enough food for 2 of us to be full, plus all the green tea we can drink. And it’s not just Japanese cuisine that’s cheap- a three course pasta dinner at an Italian restaurant is about $9 a person. The Japanese look at eating as a waste of time, so service is always fast. In fact, in some restaurants there are buzzers on the table that you push to summon your waitress when you are finished eating.

Fukushima itself is quite nice- a relatively busy city but still small enough where you manage to run into people you know on the street at any time of day. The people here are nice and other foreigners automatically gravitate to you and introduce themselves. The Japanese locals also think its fun to say hello to foreigners in English or Japanese. Some are quite helpful like when trying to discern what flavours of ice cream there are- a woman walked by us and helpfully pointed out the flavours before continuing on her way.

Besides being surrounded by mountains, Fukushima has a small river that runs through the outskirts of downtown.

Tomorrow, Eve, new Australian friend Donna, and I are heading off to the Shinjuku and Harajuku areas of Tokyo for shopping, so check back next week for more pictures from Tokyo.

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Photos

Sushi bar
The sushi bar in Fukushima- grab what looks good as the dishes make their way around the centre bar where chefs prepare fresh sushi on conveyor belts (about $1 to $3 per plate)

Fukushima River
Some of the scenery around the river in Fukushima

Sendai
A display in the shopping arcade in Sendai