#88 - Yamadera, a mountain-top temple

Yamadera (山寺), meaning mountain temple, is built in the mountains of Yamagata Prefeture. It was founded in 860 as a temple of the Tendai Buddhist sect. It is a great place for a short hike and for some great views. In most guide books I have seen, Yamadera is mentioned as a good side trip from places like Sendai, although you would have to travel a little ways to get there.

At the base of the mountain, you can find several temple buildings. The oldest building here houses a flame which is said to have been burning since Yamadera was founded. There are also some small shops for food, water and other things! I managed to buy a shrine book with a lovely picture of Yamadera on it (unfortunately, I didn't actually use it because I was yet to fill my other book with stamps!).

In the upper area.

Climbing up.

To get up the mountain, you will need to climb around 1000 steps, which can be a bit of a hike. You can see stone lanterns and small statues as you ascend. Needless to say, I was exhausted as I got to the top!

There are many buildings scattered near the top, and I could see other areas, such as a balcony-like seat in the rock face. Unfortunately, my bus going there arrived late, so I didn't have time to have a good look around. Added to my rushed hike (run?) up the mountainside, I really didn't have a good opportunity to take it all in anyway!

View of the valley.

From the upper areas, there is a great view of the surrounding valley. Luckily, the weather was good when I visited, so it looked great!


Yamadera is also famous for one of the places visited by the poet Basho. He wrote one of his well-known haikus here in 1689, which mentions the stillness and quietness of Yamadera. Here is an English translation:

"ah this silence / sinking into the rocks / voice of cicada"

Although my time there was short, I did enjoy being able to visit Yamadera. It was a place I had been wanting to visit since living in Sendai. If I am able to visit the region again, I would love to spend some more time here to leisurely take in the atmosphere. But, I'm not sure if I'll be thrilled about climbing up again!

#87 - Tokyo Game Show

The Tokyo Game Show is a big video game convention, which showcases new games and new releases, as well as new gaming technology. It is held just outside of Tokyo, in the Makuhari Messe in Chiba and lasts for four days. The first two are for invited business and media guests, but the last two are open to the public.

Squeenix!

This annual expo usually focuses on Japanese developers, such as Sony, Konami and Square Enix (but not Nintendo), although some European and international companies are also represented.

One of the school booths.

The huge exhibition halls are divided into different sections which focus on a particular area of gaming. For example, in the Developer's Area you can find large stage areas and booths where the more prominent developers and companies show off their products. If you are interested in entering the video game industry, you can browse the booths in the Game School Area. You can find a lot of information on courses, but on the whole, it will be in Japanese. There is also an area for mobile games, and others, such as games made for children.

Waiting in line.

I attended the 2013 Tokyo Game Show, which apparently had the record number of people attending! I can believe that - just lining up to get inside, we were placed in areas and had to wait to be released into the hall! It was so hot that day, with no shade either!

A Bayonetta costume.

 As well as the games, Tokyo Game Show is apparently known for the girls who dress in costumes as game characters!

Large hall - lots of people!

Overall, I really enjoyed attending this event. I got to see a lot of stalls and grabbed a lot of freebies and fliers!

#86 - Matsushima: A Wet Experience!

Matsushima is a group of islands and bay in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan and is a short trip from Sendai. The name 'Matsushima' explains it quite clearly - matsu (松) means pine tree, and shima (島) means island. So, 松島 means islands covered in pine trees.

This area is known as one of the Three Views of Japan, so a lot of visitors are drawn here. There are also plenty of temples to occupy your time and several mausoleums.

The sand and rock garden
in Entsuin temple.

Some parts built into the rock face.

Shoes off!

Unfortunately, I didn't have a good chance to see a lot of the sites, because it started to rain. Actually, it was a bit more than just rain. A typhoon was coming that weekend, so the streets became flooded pretty quickly! To try and lessen any damage, I took my shoes off to walk towards the train station. As it turned out, water had flooded some of the train tracks coupled with some strong wind further down the line meant that the trains were stopped and weren't about to go any time soon!

After it stopped raining, the water across the roads disappeared extremely quickly! Look at the comparison in these photos!

With rain...

...and the same place without rain!

Because it had gotten a little sunnier (and also because I needed another way back to Sendai...) I boarded on one of the ferries. Usually, ferries make round trips so that you can get a little closer to the islands. As I found out, children (and some adults) spend the journey throwing prawn flavoured snacks off the back of the boat to attract armies of seagulls! It was a little scary!

A view of Godaido, a small temple hall.

A different seagull-swamped ferry.

A wet me on the ferry.

Another small island.

An island.

Regardless of the typhoon and not being able to see much, I still really enjoyed visiting Matsushima! The typhoon was interesting to experience and it was kind of like an adventure - I will never forget it for sure! I would like to go again in the future to see everything I can.