Mike's Trip to Tohoku

Hello everyone, this past weekend I went on a trip to Tohoku!

JR had a special ticket event, so I was able to buy a ticket that allowed me to travel freely along any JR train lines in eastern Japan! The price was only 22,000 yen!

I first decided to go to Utsunomiya via the Shinkansen, I used to live near there so I wanted to see how it has changed. I also met a friend at a cafe there.

Later, I went to Fukushima, also by Shinkansen. It was my first time there so I went to the visitor information center to get some ideas on where I should go.

They were very helpful and informed me of various interesting places. I unfortunately didn't have enough time to go to them all. I really want to go to Aizuwakamatsu, which is where the last Samurai existed in Japan!

I was hungry so I went to a nearby restaurant to get a beef bowl, it was really good! I talked with the cook for a little bit, he suggested I go to the hot springs in Iizakaonsen.

I then went to Ogura-tei house which is a traditional Japanese-style house by the river for tourists to visit. I took lots of photos of it.

Later, I went and enjoyed the onsen that was recommended to me. I had to take a train on a different line to get there.

I then proceeded to Yamagata which is where I booked my hotel for the night. I found a nice restaurant downtown and ordered some delicious food. I love meat!

The next day I explored a little more of Yamagata then took the local train to Sendai. There, I visited Aoba castle ruins (there's no castle left anymore) and Zuihoden shrine which is really beautiful, it's located in a forest with really tall trees. I took a lot of photos and videos of the shrines.

On the third day, I explored a little more of Sendai, including some department stores and a university-run museum before I took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo station.

I had a lot of fun and it was great to go up north for a change!

Next time I hope to go up even further north to Morioka, Akita, and some of the small islands on the coast!

I hope everyone is able to take short trips like this to explore Japan!

If anyone has any questions regarding the content or grammar, please send us a comment and we'll get back to you : )

Thank you for reading everyone!

-Michal