Tohoku Day 1 - Matsushima, Kinkanzan

This trip actually started on 7-23, but all I did that day was drive. The night before I, of course, stayed up really late bbqing with friends and woke up really late. I think I left Hayakawa at around noon, and drove for probably 9 hours (including an hour of being lost in traffic when an entire city's roads were closed due to a random festival) until I reached Matsushima, one of the top X prettiest spots in Japan. If X was a larger number than 3, which is the actually number according to the Japanese, or if Matsushima was less touristy, I could understand the designation. Anyway, I was really sleepy so I dropped my tent on the side of the road, crashed, and woke up with the sun.

Those who know me know that I, well, never wake up early. The only exception is when I'm on a trip. It helps that I camp, because it's hard to sleep in or go to bed late when you camp, but the other reason is that the Japanese will NOT hit even the most famous spots before 7:30am. And then they all go home at 5:00pm. I guess there's no point in visiting a tourist spot, even one famous for a view, when the omiyage shops where they spend most of their time aren't open! I don't get it, but I sure do appreciate it. That morning it was cloudy with some moderate rain but the pine-tree covered islands were beautiful in the mist. I walked up and down the main drag, and hiked around a couple of islands and saw 6 people over the course of an hour-and-a-half. 3 were walking their dogs, and 3 were fishing. All locals! When I left at 6:30 the place was still deserted.

My next stop was Kinkanzan, a tiny island with a nice shrine and a mountain with a great view. The weather, however, was awful and they almost wouldn't let us take the ferry to the island. The heavy rain meant that there was no way I could climb the mountain, so I just hit the temple instead. Kinkanzan and the nearby port town of ________ were whaling towns, and you could actually order whale (I didn't) in the restaurant. The drive over was also nice. I hate Japanese ports, with their ugly concrete, but I love the port towns themselves.