We headed towards the Tenkaiho observation deck, passing through the somewhat congested Sasebo city and glancing sideways at the military base and shipyard. On the way, we were swayed left and right up and down the steep slope of a small hill twice, and just when we had lost track of our position, we arrived at the observation deck. This is the location where the opening sunset scene of the movie The Last Samurai was filmed (although to be precise it was at another observation deck nearby). There is a fairly large free parking lot, but it was full.
The cosmos flowers were in full bloom next to the observation deck, and it seemed the car with Nagasaki license plates had come to see them. Many groups from elderly care facilities were taking photos here and there with the cosmos flowers in the background, rather than heading to the observation deck. I was worried about whether these elderly people got carsick, and if they didn’t feel carsick, I thought that would be a problem in itself.
The observation deck is at the top of a tower reached by climbing a flight of stairs, and from there you can see the chain of small islands of “Tsukumo-jima” to the west and the cranes of Sasebo Port to the east. The view from here on this day was like a diorama that seemed unreal, with calm waves and a tranquil world stretching to the horizon. One place that should not be forgotten when looking at the scenery of a chain of small islands is Matsushima in the Tohoku region. The view from Otakamoriyama overlooks the Pacific Ocean. During the Great East Japan Earthquake, the islands of Matsushima acted as breakwaters, reducing tsunami damage to coastal towns.
