We spent a few days in Sendai, a large city most people outside of Japan have probably never heard of (I definitely hadn’t). But it’s a great base for visiting temples in the area and a happening place in its own right although we never made it much further than a 5 block radius around the train station. Since that’s generally where all the action happens in any Japanese town though, you really don’t need to venture much further. (Seriously, if you want the best food, hotels, stores – just head to the JR station.)
Anyway, here are some more pictures from our days:
SmallPaw got to dress up as a Japanese princess to take some pictures. She was upset that she couldn’t go outside with the kimono (or really do anything besides pose for the pictures) but that’s the life of a supermodel…
BabyPaw cheered her right up, as usual.
By chance we wandered past a large building with lots of buses in front and colorful posters outside. We had no idea what it was but it looked interesting so we bought tickets and ended up hearing a shamisen performance and saw the workshop where they build the nebuta lanterns. (Lanterns of various sizes that are paraded around town once a year.)
During the parade they also play drums. Very loud drums. And they scream while they play them. (Probably because they’re so loud.) SmallPaw got to try them.
We spent a day in Yamadera, eating soba noodles and climbing mountains.
The kids’ first okonomiyaki dinner. Total success.
Another day we went to Hiraizumi for more temples. This time we rented bikes to see a bit more of the area and make it easier for the kids (and us) to get around.
One night we went to an Izakaya where unfortunately very little English was spoken. But we remembered that “Omakase” means something along the lines of ‘whatever the chef would like to make us’ and we ended up having an excellent dinner full of interesting plates. (Seaweed pizza was a huge hit.)
Oh and in case you’re wondering what a Japanese-style hotel room looks like, here’s a somewhat crappy picture with an obviously non-Japanese baby napping on the futon:
Terrific pictures, as always. Thank you! Particularly love the one of the laughing cook photographing his youngest and blondest customers ever. <3
What a beauuutifuul geisha!