Iwate and Sendai Trip Journal Tuesday, Sept. 16th
The next day it was breakfast in the hotel buffet “Azalia”. It was as good as the last place; a good selection of typical Japanese breakfast foods. Then, rather than trying to cram in some sightseeing, we went back to the drug store for some steroid cream for my eczema which was flaring up. We also went back to Universe to get some lunch for later. Got more apples here and some prunes. What an old man I am!
The Kuji station is split between JR and the Sanriku Line which is a third sector railroad. We got tickets at the Sanriku station then ate our lunch at the JR station because it was nicer, and had better air conditioning. I had an egg salad sandwich from Universe marked and I think it was better than the much blogged about 7-eleven egg salad sandwiches because it included lettuce and tomato.
We had been at the JR station the day before to look at the amber jewelry they sold there. They had items mined and crafted in Kuji as well as items mined elsewhere but still crafted in Kuji. There were some nice juzu beads, but they were pretty expensive. I tried talking to the woman who was working there but I could barely understand her. I guess I don’t have much of a jewelry vocabulary.
The train to Miyako was a three unit one-man set. We had seats in the first unit, there was a group tour in the retro-themed second unit, and the pokemon-themed third unit was dead-heading to somewhere. The first half of the trip passed beaches and gave us vistas of rocky shorelines. At one point the train even stopped so we could enjoy the view for a while. I spotted one railfan standing on a step ladder taking a picture of our train as it rolled by. He then grabbed the step ladder and hustled back to his car. I expected to see him catch up to us again, but I never saw him. The second half of the trip was inland, and the motion of the train almost lulled us to sleep.
Arriving at the Miyako, we took a taxi to the Jodogahama Park Hotel for about 1700 yen. It was well worth it. At check-in the clerk asked me in Japanese something like: “May I humbly ask you for the honorable name of the country in which you honorably reside?”. Wow, I could tell that Jodogahama Park Hotel was a high class place, because I didn’t understand him at all. I asked him to please repeat the question a little less politely, and I still didn’t understand. Finally he said: “What country do you live in?”. That I understood! Politeness levels are really tough in Japan.
The lobby had a sweeping panoramic view of the bay, framed by red pines. Our tatami room was huge. There were snacks and cool water waiting for us. We had reserved a mountain view room rather than an ocean view room, because it’s a little cheaper, but we got a nice view of the red pine forest and a partial view of the bay.
Before dinner we walked down to Jodogahama itself. It was named by a Buddhist priest who said that the beach looked as beautiful as the heaven of the Pure Land sect. The paved path down to the beach, however, was dark, steep, and there were a couple of “beware of bears” signs. Because of some recent bear attacks in the Tohoku region, everyone seems to be on edge about bears. We sang “Sanpo” from Tonari no Totoro to scare any lurking bears. The beach is sheltered by small pine tree spangled islands and has white chalky pebbles, so the water is a sparkling blue-green. We saw an octopus swimming by. Also, bobbing in the water was an Umineko gull. I thought this was a big deal because I got the impression from information at Kabushima that they all migrated away at the end of summer. It turns out that Umineko are as common as 自動販売機 (vending machines). The next day we would be mobbed by Umineko!
It was a tiring climb back up the hotel, and we were ready to feast. We weren’t disappointed. It was the most fantastic buffet: sushi, sashimi, and many local specialties with information cards in Japanese. The Apple translation app came in handy again. We thought dinner included two drinks, even though we would find out later that it didn’t. We ordered a couple of my new favorites - Asahi Super Dry Zero. We had whole fugu deep-fried. It was really good - firm meat like chicken, but sweet, and the bones were large and easy to avoid. Fugu is famous for being poisonous if not expertly prepared, but I ate it and I didn’t even croaaaaaaaa…
Just kidding. I later learned that most fugu is farmed, and does not accumulate the toxins that its wild brethren do.
