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 […]

25/10/2018 / Last updated : 16/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Mt. Haguro, Dewa Sanzan Jinjya, by way of the stairs　羽黒山

Day 52, October 2016, We spend a very wet night, with the car rocking in the wind, but the morning rain is intermittent. The toilet in this road station has a notice requesting visitors to keep the place clean and there is a picture of a cute, cartoon lady with a big, smile happily cleaning the bowl. In reality, the elderly lady cleaning the facility is a sour faced, harridan. She looks daggers at a youngish woman, from a large camper van, who comes out of the Ladies with a dog litter tray. This sort of thing is, understandably, frowned on by local road station personnel and should be avoided […]

07/10/2018 / Last updated : 29/01/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Tanesashi Beach to Lake Ogawara　種差海岸、小川原湖

summer, 2018 Michi-no-eki Hashikami proves to be a very quiet spot with a reasonable toilet. There is a lot of parking space some in the shade. We leave before the Road Station is open and head for Tanesashi Beach, but stop to buy frozen drinks from the Lawson on the other side of the main road. These are useful to keep the cooler box cold. We also take the opportunity to dump our rubbish. Tohoku is bad in this respect as even the drink vending machines do not have the usual rubbish bins. Tanesashi Beach On to Tanesashi Beach, which is not the stretch of sand littered with semi-naked humanity […]

06/10/2018 / Last updated : 29/01/2023 d.d Festival

Kuroishi and Hachinohe Sansha-Taisai Festival ’18　黒石、八戸三社大祭

Kuroishi Before heading to Hachinohe, we start the day with a walk around Kuroishi, another place that has seen better days. It features a number of dead or dying shops, mixed with interesting remnants of the old town’s former important position and prosperity. The original streets feature covered walkways (komise) to protect the punters from snow during the winter months. Traditional fire towers feature prominently and we noted an old onsen place with free entry but quite what was on free offer I am not sure as we didn’t enter so early in the day. The road past Sukayu Onsen From Kuroishi we took the road over the mountains past […]

18/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Goshogake onsen and Hachimantai　後生掛温泉、八幡平

Day 45, October 2016, A grey start to the day but not so cold and no frost though the stars were visible in the night. We breakfast on coffee and toast and apples prepared in the office basement of Goshogake campsite and are enjoying this in the dining room when people start arriving for an event starting at 9. They are apologetic when we leave but breakfast is over anyway. The Akita apples ’Kita Kurenai’ are very good. We walk around the pond ‘Onuma’ which is part of the campsite. The usual raised wooden walkway carries you over the swamp and it is all very pretty but no sign of […]

08/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Mt. Iwaki and Jogakura Ohashi, Autumn leaves and orchards　岩木山

Day 41, October 2016, Ashino Koen(park) Wake to a beautiful morning in Ashino Koen(park). The truck gent has moved his parking spot for no obvious reason but the tent dispenses a youngish, obviously, homeless man who coughs and spits. Not the best of neighbors. We have forgotten to get bread so have no breakfast and have a spot of panic as I think I have lost my wallet but find it on the floor of the car. We go for a walk across the (apparently) famous bridges. The first, is a floating bridge which is passable but is in a distressing state. What repairs have been carried out are very […]

26/05/2018 / Last updated : 19/03/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Esashi, Kaiyomaru then Hokuto　江差から北斗

Day 33, October 2016, Oshamanbe Park　長万部公園 Wake to another day of uncertain weather but it remains dry enough for us to breakfast next to the stream. We explore Oshamanbe Park finding signs of salmon in the stream some live and still more dead fish. Sadly the trail is closed with yellow do not enter tapes. Typhoon damage, presumably, has rendered it impassable or dangerous. The tent nearest to us on the river bank has a chimney smoking vigorously something I have never seen before. Unseki Pass Leaving Oshamanbe, we cross the mountains to the Japan Sea coast along route 277 through Unseki Pass. This proves to be a magnificent drive […]

12/04/2018 / Last updated : 19/05/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Shunkunitai-Cape Nosappu-Cape Kiritappu　春国岱

Day 22, September 2016, Shunkunitai From Betsukai-cho we travel on to Shunkunitai. After parking in a nondescript car park, we find a nature centre hidden in the trees. It’s a tourist spot, but they don’t seem encourage casual visitors. At the nature centre, which has a view out over the salt marshland, we get directions on how to get to the place clearly visible below us. This clear, we retrace our steps, a little, and set out along the inevitable wooden walkway over the marsh. We have a large expanse of open water on our left and, across the sea of reeds and sandy scrub, to our right the sea itself. […]

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