Northern Japan #4: Matsushima, Tohoku

Late August 2009

(Tuesday morning)



Matsushima, or “Pine Island(s),” is one of the Three Great Sights in all of Japan. Why is that, I wonder. It’s not as though the many small islands of dark pines calmly floating the sea aren’t lovely—they are. But what makes this place greater than the ribboned waterfall of Yakushima or the fog-clouded mountains of Tsuwano? How can you objectively rank what’s beautiful?



The coastal town is small, and many of the tourist attractions were within easy walking distance. I visited an old, grey temple with Chinese zodiac animals carved into the wood. I walked along the spongy, moss-covered paths in Fukuura Island. (It was like stepping in mud, except my shoes didn’t get dirty.) I marveled at the caves in front of Zuigan Temple, blackened from cremation, with mossy stone deities guarding them.



Actually, Zuigan Temple was the best attraction on the island. It had a treasure house and murals inside the main building. One room featured a mural of hawks devouring cranes. According to the English description, the hawks represented the samurai of Sendai. Very well. But who were the cranes? It reminded me of a cover idea for my high school year book, one they decided against, a hawk with a rabbit in its talons. Our school’s mascot is a hawk, our rival Victor’s mascot is a jackrabbit. Tee, hee. So which enemy was Sendai symbolically disemboweling? Alas, the description was too polite to say.



I wandered the island in a dreamy state. This mood had little to do with the natural beauty of Matsushima. To be honest, I was only half-paying attention to this “one of Three Great Sights in all of Japan.” I had come to the critical point in the Agatha Christie novel I was reading, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and the ending blew me away. (I won’t say anymore; go out and read it!) Even after I knew who the murderer was, my mind was firmly planted in the world of my book, and I drifted from attraction to attraction like a ghost.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the second Agatha Christie book I read on the trip and the fourth book overall. By the time vacation was over, my tally would come to seven. It was wonderful to gobble down so many stories all at once. So relaxing. Like being a kid again.