animal guard
11/12/2018 / Last updated : 22/03/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Naruko-kyo　鳴子峡

Summer 2018, Michi-no-eki Sannai was a good spot for shachuhaku (sleep in a car), very quiet, away from the main road and a reasonable toilet. Ten vehicles share a large parking area with us. Naruko-kyo Before viewing Naruko-kyo gorge, our first stop of the day was to be a geyser. When we arrived we thought the entrance fee a bit steep so we turned around and made for Narukokyo. This gorge is an important scenic area for Miyagi prefecture and to give it its due it is a dramatic landscape. We listened to Ospreys (birds not the infamous American aircraft) calling from the pines perched on the crags. I was […]
Matsushima
06/12/2018 / Last updated : 08/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Matsushima – Zuiganji　松島瑞巌寺

Day 56, November 2016, Jyobon no Sato Noisy morning, as michi no eki – Jyobon no sato – serves as a rendezvous for construction workers, trucks and machinery. The toilet is vast and, like the whole of the road station, uses a lot of timber in its design. Its walls, due to the lattice design of heavy timber, are a series of square recesses, some of these are decorated with vases of flowers and one has a rather nice sumi-e of Dharma. Time to head to Matsushima, as D. is determined to visit Zuiganji; a temple she visited on a solo trip as a high school girl and has never […]
05/12/2018 / Last updated : 08/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Izunuma – Genbikei　伊豆沼、厳美渓

Day 54, October 2016, The morning breaks cold and overcast. The pale, weak sun not really trying to raise the temperature above the 3 degree mark. As we have a long drive ahead, we set off early, heading north to visit the temples and gorge that we missed by making for Mt. Iwaki. Izunuma Lunchtime finds us at Lake Izunuma and, after picking up a bento in a supermarket, we head for the lake which is a famous bird sanctuary.  Here, the  car park we find, has a view of the water only partly obscured by bushes and reeds. Sadly, the lake, from this point at least, is not very […]