Day of Islands (Part 2)

(sheesh)

The path around Oshima brought fresh delights. I'd taken my sandals off by this point, so I got to feel the bite of the soil and its trees; the stone. The whole island was just begging to have some kind of puzzle integrated into its features.

We made our way back to the harbour, eschewing the somewhat seedy-looking aquarium. The boat trip had been recommended to us, and while we were considering our options, a group of Japanese approached and suggested we join them. Since a larger group lowered the ticket price considerably for all concerned, we went for it.

Now, unfortunately, the thing with small sandstone islands covered in forest is, once you've seen a couple...you've kind of seen all there is to see. You start looking for other features to catch your eye. It was a worthy ride, to see the extent of the bay and the sheer number of islands in it, but it didn't add much from a scenery-appreciation perspective.

There was only one place left to explore now: the large island of Fukuurajima. We crossed the long red bridge, which was made, somewhat disappointingly after Oshima's lovely wooden span, of concrete and steel. The forest here was much more lush than Oshima, with a great deal of undergrowth. By this time the sun had gone behind some rather heavy cloud, deadening the light; this, along with the style of vegetation (including the remarkable resemblance of the torreya tree to our own totara), produced the impression of walking somewhere in New Zealand. There was a moment of cognitive dissonance, relieved by obvious evidence of Japan: ants the size of my thumbnail.

Again I wandered off by myself. I descended a path and found, strangely, a large lawn set in the midst of the forest. There was a gazebo at one end, and at the other, neatly trimmed bushes covered in spider webs. Nearby had been built a pergola supporting the most monstrous wisterias I'd ever seen. It is said that Date Masamune brought the wisteria from Korea and adopted it as his personal tree. All around Sendai can be found wisterias, some of very impressive stature.

The view of the bay from Fukuurajima was not nearly as impressive without the sun. This house, however, apparently someone's residence, looked just fine.

And that was that. The sun came out again as we sat, thoroughly worn out, on the train platform. Pictures in magazines tempt me with even more spectacular scenes than these. It shall be my mission to find them while the sun shines.