When you are lucky in sightseeing in Matsushima, you sometimes come across blue impulse flight training. This is because there is an air base in Higashi-Matsushima town, which is adjacent to Matsushima. Suddenly a roar comes from the sky. However, Blue Impulse is busy on a business trip to events all over the country, and if you see it locally, you go to the air festival in August to be prepared for congestion.
Finding top gun talent is a daunting task. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to reach the entrance to the top gun without having the ability to be born.
F2 Fighter
The fighter is also just as delicate. It cannot take off and land even if a small piece of debris falls on the runway. When the Matsushima Air Base was swallowed by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake, 18 fighters(F2) were swallowed along with it. After the earthquake, they would have been better to take off before the tsunami and escape from the difficulties, outsider thought, but unless the fighter is prepared to take off and the runway is clear, it will not take off. Then, the reason why scrambling is possible is that it is always idling. What a delicate thing !
On the other hand, Blue Impulse was on a business trip to Kyushu Shinkansen opening event at that time, so they have escaped the tsunami.
Even so, the east-west main runway at Matsushima Air Base receives a strong crosswind, but is that okay for a delicate fighter?
You can’t see the beauty of Matsushima sufficiently unless you look at it from a high place.
Near the Oku-Matsushima(Sagakei) sightseeing boarding place there was a signpost which indicated a 15-minute walk to the Ohtakamori observatory (106 m above sea level). This was ridiculous mountain climbing and hell especially in the summer season. When I got to the observatory, I was out of breath and sweaty. Matsushima Bay can be seen to the west from Otakamori, but unfortunately it was too early in the sunset. Nobi district on the right hand view remains reddish wasteland due to the tsunami.
ohtakamori viewpoint
Ohtakamori Panoramic View
ohtakamori1 left
ohtakamori2 middle-left
ohtakamori3 middle
ohtakamori4 middle-right
ohtakamori5 right
Saigyo Modoshino Matsu View
This observatory (122m above sea level) is a 20-minute walk from JR Matsushima Kaigan Station. However, mainly coming to the famous tourist spots from that station, few people walk up to this point. If you come, in the cherry blossom season, take a picture of small islands in Matsushima Bay that shines east and the cherry blossoms in the foreground in the afternoon.
After being sweaty due to climbing, how about taking a public bath at the hot spring below viewpoint!
saigyo modoshino matsu after cherry blossoms season
The haiku poet Basho wrote the above in Matsushima and I was taught so in childhood, but it seems different. I certainly thought that anyone could write this, but Basho himself said that he could not write words in the superb view of Matsushima and did not write haiku.
soukanzan
A typical Matsushima sightseeing starts from JR Matsushima Kaigan Station, and Fuku-ura island to pray for getting partner (famous for the combined hike of male and female students; it’s an old story), Godaido temple, a sightseeing boat in the bay inside, and Zuiganji Temple, national treasure, are the golden routes, but those who love the countryside avoid famous tourist spots and crowd.
It is said that the magnificent view of Matsushima Bay was created by rising water levels in the eroded mountains, but erosion due to waves is still progressing outside Matsushima Bay. “Matsushima” is the pine tree on the island when the characters are translated into English. The green of the pine against the yellow of the eroded rock surface could make us feel the bonsai flavor. Anyway, we enjoyed the beauty of nature in the sea canyon “Sagakei” and there were many rocks that remind us of various creatures. The boat is small and very homey, and if there are no waves, you can see the blue cave.
When I got off the approach from Shiogama Shrine, I saw a large warehouse of sake brewery. Since it was founded nearly 300 years ago, it is a company with an even longer history than Kamei, which I visited earlier.
Everywhere Shrines and sake breweries have existed as a pair for a long time, but due to advances in brewing technology, the sake brewery entered a period of great competition, which is a great story for sake lovers. The taste of Daiginjo, which produces a refreshing taste by polishing sake rice to the extreme to remove miscellaneous tastes, becomes similar among any sake brewery without fear of misunderstanding. Therefore, I think that Junmaishu, which does not polish so much rice, represents the taste of the brewery.
Sake production is a complicated process in which a two-step process of saccharification of rice starch with koji and alcoholic fermentation of sugar with yeast is carried out in one barrel. Sufficient alcoholic fermentation of sugar results in dry sake, its current fashion, but it does not retain the umami(rich taste) of rice. On the other hand, sake which often wins the gold medal in the world is not suitable for in-meal liquor because its umami is so distinctive. This balance is difficult, and the true sense of Toji(Master of sake in each brewery) is questioned.
Although wine and sake are common in that they are not distilled, the wine is only fermented of its sugar, so the performance of the grapes harvested is the most important. So vintage is everything. On the other hand, sake is all about delicate manufacturing methods.
If you go back to Uragasumi Sake Brewery, you can buy a small glass, and with this you can have 3 kinds of tasting, so please find the one you like and buy it. However, buying a full bottle here will affect later actions.
Japanese sweets and tea utensils
There is another well-established store here that I want to stop by. It is a Japanese confectionery shop “Tanrokuen” that sells Shihogama. When you put it in your mouth, it melts and you can feel the scent of salt and perilla. As before, shrines and Japanese confectionery shops are paired everywhere. However, it seems that it has made history by changing the industry since the beginning. Speaking of Japanese sweets, Japanese tea is always associated with it, and it is clear that tea utensils are now sold mainly there.
Detour for lunch (Le Nid d’hirondelle in Higashi-Matsushima Town)
Higashi(East)-Matsushima Town has the same place name as “Matsushima”, but because it is off Matsushima Bay with a lot of small islands as a breakwater, it was directly affected by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Although the coastal land became salty and therefore not suitable for cultivation, private company KDDI Evolva, contact center services for telecommunication business, is taking on the challenge of smart agriculture such as high quality tomato production by hydroponics, land restoration and employment of people with disabilities. They are really working on making the situation plus rather than returning it to zero from minus in Nobi district !
A new town is being rebuilt on the opposite bank of the Nobi district, and there is a restaurant worth a detour in it. That is “Le Nid d’hirondelle“.
Since the air base is located in Higashi- Matsushima Town, you could see Blue Impulse training flights sometimes near here.
When I travel to Tohoku, I often stop at a gas station, so I often see Kamei’s mark (red flag on the sea). When I visited Shiogama Shrine and walked along the long back path, Kamei’s villa suddenly appeared and I was surprised why it was in such a place. So I learned that Kamei was a company that originated from Shiogama City and lasted over 100 years.
There are many companies in the world that have been in business for more than 100 years, but according to a survey by Nikkei BP, Japan was twice as many as the United States, which was second in the number of companies in the world. In Japan, the ratio of these companies was high in the manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and lodging/restaurant industry, but low in the service industry. Prolonged life is proud, but I think it’s because of the conservative constitution of business practices and it leads to conservative job hunting for students who are only looking at large companies. Amazon is taking over the Japanese market in the retail industry with ICT as a weapon. I hope that a new venture that will bring innovation will be created. I think Japan must learn more about the reincarnation of Buddhism.
kamei villa11 bat
Returning to Kamei, many companies that have continued for over 100 years are transforming themselves. General Electric(GE) was also a company that manufactured and sold Edison’s inventions, but it is now a major player in the energy and aviation industries while changing industries. Kamei also focused on new energy oil at that time and established a sales route in Tohoku based at Shiogama Port. It was explained that the contractor at that time was the current ENEOS, energy supplier, and the design of the bat of the company emblem was incorporated into this villa. Perhaps it could be the story when the president of Kamei received the contract customer at this villa. Nowadays it is surrounded by commercial areas, but it is imagined that the view of Shiogama Port and Matsushima Bay would have been good because it was located on a hill. It’s a great place to take a break on a hot day. It’s free.
Film director Makoto Shinkai said he got the idea for the movie “Your name”(subtitle: I’m always searching for something, for someone.) from the disaster-affected Yuriage. The coastal area of Yuriage and the port town were all swallowed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the situation was seen by all the people in the live broadcast via helicopter from the sky without doing anything. According to the story of the movie, two people, who transcend time and space, cooperate with each other on how to call residents to evacuate, although the types of disasters are different.
yuriage seawall1
yuriage momument
In the old days, a row of beautiful cool pine trees that continue along the coastline collapsed due to the tsunami, and now triple tide walls continue to the dry ground. In addition, the residents are returning by raising the height of the land. Morning markets are held on Sundays and public holidays from 6:00 to regain the old bustle, and the general public can participate in the auction no charge and get cheap and fresh products(see cover photo).
breakfast1 at yuriage
breakfast2 at yuriage
yuriage morning market
yuriage port
Michinoku Coastal Trail and Natori Information Center
This trail connects the Pacific coast from Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture to Soma in Fukushima prefecture. Walking distance is 1000km ! Natori Information center is located at Yuriage and not only for breaks, you can use showers and laundry there. >read more about Michinoku Coastal Trail in Hachinohe
Generally speaking of cows in a shrine is associated with Tenmangu, which enshrines Michizane Sugawara, senior official in Heian period, as the god of learning. So, It is a major source of income for the shrine during the examination season. However, at Shiogama Shrine, cows are worshiped in the hope that the business will continue for a long time like cow drool. The drool is not smart, but it is strongly associated with the development of Shiogama as a port town.
shiogama shrine garden
Shiogama Shrine is the No. 1 shrine in Tohoku, and sits in a position to protect the demon gate of Tagajo, which is the agency of the Yamato Imperial Court. It is located on a ridiculous hill in expectation of a tsunami caused by an earthquake. If you climb from the main approach, you will find 202 stone steps. At the time of the festival, 16 people carry one ton of mikoshi on the stone steps, so each person carries the same weight as their own weight.
shiogama shrine main approach bottomshiogama shrine main approach top
I could see many small islands floating in Matsushima Bay from the precincts, and I felt that the hard work of climbing was rewarded.
shiogama shrine view matsushima
There is Shiogama Sakura, a large-flowered double-flowered cherry tree designated as a natural monument in the precincts, but when it was about to disappear due to aging, it revived thanks to Kyoto gardener Sano Toemon. If you have the opportunity, definitely enjoy the wonderful Shiogama Sakura.
Haiku Basho wrote about this lantern in his travel journal.
Detour
The Tagajo, which was the agency for the Yamato Imperial Court and guarded by shrine, is explained at the Tohoku History Museum near Kokufu-Tagajo station. Excavations are still ongoing at Tagajo and there is a good walking course.
tohoku history museum1 emishitohoku history museum2
It is often said that beautiful things have thorns.
It’s not about women. It is safflower. ! Roses, which have almost the same origin in the world, have thorns, but safflowers belonging to the Asteraceae family are injured when harvesting.
There is a legend that the young girl who is harvesting safflower bleeds from her hands with the thorns, which makes the color even more crimson. They have the sadness that they cannot use the lipstick made from safflower for themselves because the safflower is the most important trade item.
Why do safflowers turn crimson color when they are blooming yellow? Actually, when I brought back the safflower to dry flower, the flower turned crimson without doing anything. It is said to turn crimson by melting yellow pigment off by water and then fermenting the remaining ingredients. Then the safflower shaped as rice cake was exported to Kyoto and Osaka via the Kitamae ship down the Mogami River. It seems that Mogami (Yamagata) brand safflower was as valuable as gold.
The Safflower Museum in Kahoku town is the former site of the building of a merchant who made a fortune in handling safflower, and you can also see the production of safflower.
There is Mt.Gassan 8th station at the end of the winding uphill. The Midagahara Marsh, ‘Heavenly paradise’, is spreading there. I feel like jumping into the Shonai plain overlooking the Sea of Japan. It takes 3 hours from here to the mountaintop shrine
Unfortunately, it is downhill to the five-storied pagoda, National treasure. But you can meet the 1000 year old grandfather ceder. In 2019, we had a special visit inside the pagoda. The octagonal core was tied to the surrounding skeleton with a kudzu vine. (>click photos)
five storied pagoda
haguroyama zuishinmon
old grandfather ceder
five storied pagoda
octagonal pillar inside
special visit inside
buddha on the roadside
Uphill surrounded by old cedars feels sacred air, not just forest bath. But it is hard to climb the 2446 stone steps at once. There is a traditional tea house in an exquisite place. And you can overlook the flat Shonai plain facing the Sea of Japan. If the weather is very nice, you can see Tobishima island over the Shonai plain. (>click photos)
stone steps start
stone steps start
stone step on the way
stone step upto tea house
chikaramochi and tokoroten
shonai plain
view tobishima island over plain
We finally reached the summit of Mt. Haguroyama. It took 50 minutes without a break from the foot. It is difficult to go to the other two mountains, so it is also secular that the three gods are enshrined together here.
It seems that the belfry was built as a thank-you for praying for the invasion of Mongolia during the Kamakura period. (>click photos)
shrine haguroyama
stone astep over tea house
shrine haguroyama
shrine arrival
shrine sumo wrestler
shrine sanzan composed
mirror pond
hydrangea
old belfry
god for healty foot
Only part of the stone steps are crafted with the playfulness of masonry worker. Find out, so you feel better.
