Matsushima Bay

With 250 islands dotted with pine trees, Matsushima Bay is one of the three classic views of Japan. We took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai and a local train to Shiogama before boarding a one-hour sightseeing ferry. The boat goes through surprisingly shallow water, only 2 meters deep in some places. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride (much more so than the grumpy tourist with a Kyushu University sweatshirt who just sat looking pouty at the back of a chair the whole ride).

Once we reached the other side of the bay (Matsushima itself), we walked across the 250-meter-long Fukuurabashi bridge to Fukuurajima to explore some walking trails through the pine trees (I almost didn’t make it to the island, since the bridge was actually 251 meters long, significantly longer than I expected). Anyway, the views from Oshima Island were much better since you can see “whale” and “turtle” island (Kujirajima and Kamejima) from there. Oshima also had some historical stuff.Read more