Day 7 – Roaming the islands of Matsushima

With only 1 full day of Japan left, I think the decision to not fully adjust to the sleep schedule was a good one. While it does leave an hour of waiting before breakfast opens up, it hopefully means adjusting to the Thai sleep schedule shouldn’t be as bad. In rural Japan, especially, early mornings are pretty routine, with a lot of the people getting up early to open up shops or head out on the fishing boats. When the breakfast buffet in the Inn opened up again, we grabbed some food and walked down to the local fish market. Though smaller than something like Tsukiji, it’s still a lot of fun seeing the unique atmosphere of a small town fish market.

Afterward, we walled over to one of the small islands connected to the main land by a small bridge. From the shrine on the small island, you were able to see one of the other islands you can walk to; Fukuurabashi Island. Fukuurabashi Island is a larger island doubling as a nature park. Dotted with shrines and covered in a variety of trees and flowers, it makes for a very nice walk. One of the small buildings on the island was selling a classic Japanese treat, dango. Chewy and sweet rice cakes skewered and covered in sauce, it’s one of my favorite Japanese snacks. My dad and I bought a skewer to share. However, he was not the biggest fan of the treat. So while I happily ate the rest of the skewer, we continued walking around the island, taking pictures of the island filled bay of Matsushima.

We walked back to the main land to visit a small family run sushi restaurant to confirm if they would be open later that day, and then walked back to the Inn. Before getting back, I saw a small liquor shop, and since I have wanted to try amazake (sweet low/no alcohol rice drink made as a byproduct from sake) for a while now I stopped in and asked if they had any. We got a small bottle and tried some once we were back in our room. I have a thing for sweet rice based foods and drinks, so I enjoyed / finished the bottle.

With still a lot of time before our planned dinner, we decided to hike up to a cherry blossom park overlooking most of Matsushima and the bay of islands. It was a pretty long and exclusively uphill hike from our Inn, but it was worth the walk. Several pictures and a short rest later, we began the descent back into town. By the time we were back, it was getting close to dinner, and with an appetite officially having been worked up, we were looking forward to sushi for dinner. After a brief rest and a short walk, we arrived at a tucked away traditional looking Japanese restaurant. The couple running the restaurant were very nice. However, they spoke no English, which was reflected in the menu provided. I successfully managed to place our order and ask our server some questions about the food before we were greeted with some beautiful and very delicious sushi.

The term “melts in your mouth” is an often overused yet irreplaceable word when it comes to describing certain foods, and this applies to the sushi we had. A variety of fish and seafood, not all of which I could name, with barely any pressure needed for it to dissolve while eating. Enjoyed with a red wine for my dad and a highball for myself, we ate and ordered some more before I requested the bill. On the way back to our rooms, I drank yet another vending machine drink before packing it in for the night, concluding our final full day in Japan.