After a relaxing night in the Ryokan, I had to get up way too early! To reach the cat island of Tashirojima, I had to take an early train to get one of the few ferries. The ferry leaves from Ishinomaki, which meant I had to catch the train from Sendai heading north to Ishinomaki.
In Ishinomaki
Nach einem schnellen Kaffee verabschiedete ich mich von den freundlichen Gastgebern, die unbedingt noch ein Foto von mir machen wollten, kraulte den Hund und dann ging es auch schon los. Durch die Outskirts von Matsushima, dann pünktlich auf den Zug, und in Ishinomaki zügig zum Hafen. Auf dem Weg kam ich an ein paar schönen Schreinen vorbei, hielt mich aber nicht zu lange auf, denn die Zeit war knapp und ich brauchte noch ein Ticket für die Fähre. Das Wetter war prächtig, kein Vergleich zu dem gestrigen Regentag.Ich war guter Dinge, dass es ein schöner Ausflug mit dem Boot werden würde.
After a quick coffee, I said goodbye to the friendly hosts, who insisted on taking a photo of me, cuddled the dog, and then off I went. Through the outskirts of Matsushima, then on the train (barely on time), and then a race to the harbor in Ishinomaki. On the way I passed a few beautiful shrines, but I didn’t linger too long because time was short and I still needed a ticket for the ferry. The weather was great; yesterday’s horrible rainy day seemed to be forgotten. I was confident that it would be a nice trip on the boat.
Well… Wrong. I arrived at the port on time. Now to quickly buy a ticket for the ferry “See Cat 2” and then ahoy… Wait a minute…
See Cat… Oder rather not…
The friendly man at the counter curbed my enthusiasm: I could take the ferry, but the weather was more unstable than expected and the risk of getting stranded on the island was significant. That wouldn’t be so good, because there is no accommodation for tourists on the island! And while the thought of spending a day surrounded by cats was enticing… yeah, right…
I could hardly believe it, though. The weather was great and the weather forecast looked good. But he was quite firm – of course, he couldn’t stop me from boarding, but he would really, really advise me against it. I thought about it for a few minutes. Better to trust the locals, I thought. They’re out at sea every day.
Mangas…
What should I do instead? The train back to Sendai had just left and the next one wasn’t due for another two hours. So I wandered the streets a bit, met a rather chubby cat, and thought about the next best plan. I still had my bento box and all I needed now was a good place to eat it. Parks are ideal for this because munching on the street “just like that” is an absolute no-go in Japan!
On the way, I noticed the many manga figures and some colorfully designed manhole covers. The UFO-like building at the harbor was the Ishinomori Manga Museum! And so in this part of the city, a lot revolved around the topic of manga. Unfortunately, I only figured this out on the way back to Sendai. Otherwise, I could have spent an interesting morning there, even if it would have meant having to wait another two hours.
…and disasters
Instead, I wandered to the Hagurosan Toya Shrine for a quiet breakfast. The park and shrine are on a small hill and I suddenly noticed the strong breeze. Good thing I hadn’t taken the boat to the island! All around the park and in the entire harbor area, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake was still all too visible. Ishinomaki was one of the cities most affected – Sendai got off relatively lightly. On the hill, I encountered a sign saying that there was an evacuation zone for tsunamis. Then I realized how high these walls of water could actually be. The view over the bay was very nice, however.
I dutifully picked up the trash that the wind kept steadily blowing away, and then I returned to Sendai. I had decided to drive out to the big Buddha statue after all:
Sendai Daikannon
Rinnō-ji
The last stop in Sendai was to be Rinnō-ji in the northern city. A small shrine, but with a very beautiful Japanese garden. Perfect for the good weather:
Lunch and return to Ueno
I had now returned to the train station. There were certainly many more sights to see, but time was pressing. After I had tried the first regional specialty the day before, I wanted to check out whether the sushi in Sendai was as good as everyone always says. After cursory research, I chose Sushi Tetsu in the station – there is another (apparently even better) branch halfway to Matsushima, but I didn’t want to take the train all the way back.
The restaurant was not easy to find (for me as a foreigner at least) and didn’t open until 5 pm (like most Japanese restaurants). But I was lucky and there was no line. I ordered a sushi platter based on the chef’s recommendation. You could see the chefs at work, which was great a great experience. And the quality: It wasn’t exactly cheap, but it was worth every yen!
I browsed around the station a bit and bought a few treats, including a cat-shaped layered cake. After about two hours on the Shinkansen, I was back in Ueno. Unfortunately, Amber was busy that evening, so I went to dinner alone. Again in Asakusa, again at Isomaru Suisan. This time they had grilled eel! It was great, and the delicious Nigori sake that came with it was even better. Very satisfied, but also very tired, I set off home, because the next morning I would have a similarly early start.