The good thing about being a teacher is that there are a lot of holidays. Recently, I had 5 days off for autumn vacation. For 2 of those days I took a trip up north to Sendai and Yamagata. Being a very spur of the moment trip, I really had no plans and figured out what to see as I went along. The reason I went up to Sendai, which is a little far, was simply because it was the closest place I have not been yet.

Sendai and Yamagata Photo Gallery

The first place I went was Matsushima. The first thing I noticed was that it reminded me a lot of when I used to visit a lake in Canada. Other than being on the ocean there were many islands covered with pine trees. The smell of fish and pine, the sound of the boats, and just the way the small islands looked made me want to return to Canada. I spent the day walking around the islands, and also seeing the famous temple in the area - Zuiganji. Dinner was the famous food in Sendai: beef tongue.

The next morning I explored Sendai city. I went up to where Sendai Castle used to be and saw some other famous sots in the city. I then hopped on a train towards Yamagata.

On the way to Yamagata I stopped at Yamadera, or mountain temple. As the name states, there is a temple on the side of a mountain that you can hike up to and look out on the valley below. Making it up the the 800+ stairs quite quickly I spent my time at the top taking pictures and taking in the view. It was a very beautiful area with fall colors as well as beautiful flowers.

Lastly, I made it to Yamagata city and got on a bus up to Zao to relax at the onsen. I made it up in time for a beautiful sunset. After relaxing in the onsen and a dinner of Yamagata soba, I took the train back to Yokohama.