Matsushima: following Basho

Here are islands upon islands of limitless number, some towering to the heavens, others prostrate before the waves. ... Some islands are carries on the backs of others and some are embraced, like children loved by their grandparents. The pines are deep green, their branches bent in the wind as if spontaneously trained into twisted form. The whole scene has the fathomless beauty of a lady exquisitely arrayed.

Last Thursday we took a day trip to Matsushima--one of the top three most beautiful places in japan and a place Basho (the father of the haiku) visited. This was again one of those instances where I had to remind me of the fact that it is January and things may not be as pretty as they could be. What made this area very beautiful is the bay filled with islands, as Basho described above. You can't really see that many from the shore, but it was still fairly nice looking.

Matsushima had yet another temple that we were slightly rushed through. The thing that I remember most vividly from this spot is that the museum across from the temple had samurai armor that inspired the suit for Darth Vador!

After Matsushima we traveled back to Tokyo and stayed at the same place as the beginning of our trip. The familiarity was nice. And, oh, how I had missed the bakery.