The humble kokeshi were said to be invented in the Tohoku region of Japan as souvenirs for travelers coming to enjoy the regional hot springs. The simple design of traditional kokeshi is a round “head” attached to a cylinder body, created from cherry or mizuki wood by an artisan using a lathe. If the faces…
Tag: tohoku
Tohoku Week – Shiogama Jinja
Topping a small hill overlooking Shiogama town in Miyagi Prefecture, this fairly large shrine complex has a history of over 1,000 years, surviving earthquakes, fires and tsunamis. It can be included as part of an itinerary containing the Shiogama and Matsushima towns and is well worth a long stroll around the picturesque buildings, pine forests…
Tohoku Week – Zunda
When you consider the elegance of Japanese tea, the homely looking zunda looks a bit out of place. By appearance, it could be a regurgitated bright green goo, but zunda takes its rightful place beside the more refined cup of ocha by virtue of its history. Lord Date Masamune, founder of Sendai, dined on zunda,…
Tohoku Week – Shichigahama
Shichigahama sits south of the ruggedly scenic Matsushima Bay and north of the city of Sendai. Known for its fishing waters and as a summer vacation haven, Shichigahama attracts visitors from around Japan for its natural beauty. Void of the many islands protecting the coast in Matsushima Bay, several of its beaches are popular with local surfers….
Tohoku Week – Kanrantei
When you sit down in Kanrantei and served a frothy matcha and sweet wagashi, you may not realize the building you are in may be better traveled in Japan than you. Kanrantei teahouse was a gift to Data Musumine, the daimyo who founded the city of Sendai, from the legendary Japanese leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kanrantei was built…
Tohoku Week – Shiogama Fish Market
If you’re sitting down to a plate of fresh maguro tuna at a restaurant in Japan, chances are your meal passed through Shiogama. The commercial docks in this city north of Sendai handle the vast majority of the tuna trade in Japan, not Tsukiji Market in Tokyo as most people believe. Shiogama Fish Market is…
Tohoku Week – Zao Fox Village
If the idea of being inside an enclosure where wild foxes outnumber humans by dozens to one, perhaps this unique tourist attraction isn’t for you. But if you are intrigued by the beauty of these mysterious animals, the Zao Fox Village is a fairly short detour off the Tohoku Expressway south of Sendai. Foxes are…
Tohoku Week – Yamadera
Editors Note: We’re back from vacation and celebrating with a week of posts about our vacation destination: Tohoku! Beat the summer heat of Tokyo and the wall-to-wall crowds of Kyoto and visit Tohoku in northern Japan instead! Located just a half hour outside of Yamagata city in the Prefecture of the same name, Yamadera literally means…
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