Matsushima – Japan🌺
I recently went on a 2 week trip to Japan, I traveled around the country, tired a bunch of new food, and experienced a whole new culture! I want to share my trip with all of your and hopefully give you some ideas of things to do if you get the chance to visit Japan!
One of my favorite places that I visited was Matsushima Japan. Matsushima is located in Miyagi Prefecture of Japan. It is located on the upper east side of Japan and directly opens up to a beautiful bay, which really gives a contrast to all the beach towns in Japan!
This is a perfect destination for a day trip in Japan, because this places has so many culture, beauty, and foods that are all able to be experienced in a day!
Zuiganji Temple
To start off the day trip in Matsushima, me and my sister went to Zuiganji Temple, located inland in Matsushima. This is a beautiful temple that is friendly to all many languages, such as English, Korean, French, and Mandarin. I thought this was one of the most amazing temple experience in Japan, because of the amazing landscape and the fact that we were allowed to enter and tour the inside of the temple.
Sadly you are not able to take photos inside the temple, but here are the photos I took of the beautiful outside of Zuiganji Temple. This is the main temple building that you are able to tour and walk through. Most temples in Japan do not allow you to walk inside and see the temple, so this experience at Zuiganji temple was amazing!
Not to mention that Zuiganji temple had amazing outside landscape, featuring graves, shrines, and more! One of my favorite parts about the temples in Japan is the outside landscape, they are so beautiful and well maintained.
Zuiganji is about 20 minutes away from the Shinkansen (bullet train) station at Matsushima so it is a great first stop at the city and gives you an idea of the beauty in this place! I really recommend stopping by Zuiganji Temple to have this amazing experience.
Naohide Kokeshi Doll Shop
The next stop on the trip was for gifts!! I think I got the majority of my gifts in Matsushima, because they have so many shops on the main street that have traditional and beautiful Japanese souvenirs! On the great places to check out is Naohide Kokeshi Doll shop. This is a traditional Japanese doll shop run by a sweet elderly couple who hand make every doll. There is a huge variety of Kokeshi dolls here and I think they make a perfect gift!
Shokado Cafe
One thing that is very famous in Japan is this little thing called Castella cakes. You can find them at the grocery store, and any convenience store. But there is no better Castella cake then the ones at Shokado Cafe. This cafe is famous for these little cakes, and they are amazing! This is cafe located on the main street of Matsushima that looks out to the bay. They are very English friendly, just ask for an English menu and your good!
Temple Godaido
Temple Godaido is a great free and beautiful stop on the way through Matsushima. This temple is on its on small island that looks out onto the bay. It is just a small temple, but the walk up and the view make it completely worth it, plus its free!
This is a beautiful temple that is amazing and so easy to stop by at on the way to the main attraction in Matsushima. There are also a couple gift stands at the entrance that sell very historical and traditional Japanese gifts.
The view from Temple Godaido
Shopping
Matsushima was probably one of my favorite places to shop in all of Japan! There are so many shops in this city that are English friendly and offer great traditional Japanese gifts! I honestly brought more than half of my gifts in this city because it was so amazing! Just stop in any shops that catch your eye and get something!
Fukuura Island
Fukuura Island is the most famous attraction in Matsushima! There is a huge red bridge that connects the main land to the Island. The bridge is so beautiful so make sure you take pictures! It cost 200 yen to go across the bridge and over to the island, but trust me it is totally worth it because the island is beautiful!
Fukuura Island was so beautiful and total different then what I expected! This island was filled with so many different pathways and trails that go through the thick woods and open up to beaches and views of the bay! I loved wandering around this island and taking in all the forest and natures! Also thankfully the island is so thick and big that you don’t see many other people on the island as you explore!
Overall
Matsushima Japan was just one stop on my Japan trip, but I think it was such a fantastic, beautiful, and thrilling experience that I would recommend anyone to do! There is so many great temples, shopping, and AMAZING views in Matsushima! I seriously think this was probably my favorite place I went to during my Japan trip!
Look out for my next post amount my Japan trip to find out where I went next!!
Thank you so much for reading and don’t forget to follow my blog and my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vhiidii/) to find out more about my personal life!
大好き사랑해 love^^
Comments