A Scenic Ride On The Gono Line Part I

and taking the Resort Shirakami train - Buna. I posted about the trip earlier in the post : Day 4 In Japan - A 5 Hour Trip To Nowhere. Why did I call it a trip to nowhere? Not because there wasn't any interesting place to sightsee but because we took the train for the sole purpose of taking the train. We got on it at Akita Station up to Hirosaki and went back taking the Akebono train immediately after. Nuts? Yes, we are.

The day was a bit overcast so the photos kinda look gloomy. I used the "sports function" of my camera to take these photos, but as the function is best suited for the bright outdoors, it didn't turn out that great. Oh well...You live and learn.

I love traveling on this Gono Line because of the view. It was so lovely to see rolling rice fields with the seaview in the background. It might not be as fun-filled ride as the one on the steam locomotive "Ban Etsu Monogatari-Go" which we took in 2009, but the view one can see outside will not bore you at all. A highly recommended train trip.

Another set of photos taken from the train in a couple days' time.

Omikuji - The Fortune Paper

Omikuji at Senso-Ji in Asakusa

Omikuji at Godaido Island

When you visit the shrines or temples in Japan, you can probably see people reading a strip of paper or seen it tied on a stand or on a tree branch - those were probably Omikuji (おみくじ) you see.

Omikuji are paper fortunes from a “sacred lottery,” fortunes which foretell one’s good or bad luck regarding something that one is praying about to the god of the shrine they are visiting. The omikuji are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box or by shaking a box containing numbered sticks and taking out the fortunes by the same number, or getting them from a vending machine; hoping for the resulting fortune to be good.

Omikuji vending machine

Two visitors on Fuukurajima, buying a Daruma Omikuji

General fortune is usually written in one of these categories:
大吉 - Daikichi - Excellent luck
吉 - Kichi - Good luck
中吉 - Cyukichi - Fair luck
小吉 - Syokichi - A little luck
半吉 - Hankichi - Semi-good luck
末吉 - Suekichi - Uncertain luck
末小吉 - Suekokichi - Uncertain but a little luck
凶 - Kyou - Bad luck
小凶 - Syokyou - A little misfortune
半凶 - Hankyou - semi-misfortunate
末凶 - Suekyou - Uncertain misfortune
大凶 - Daikyou - Certain disaster

The fortune may also include predictions different subjects about love, lost articles, study, family,money, travel, childbirth; in other words, predictions for all needs.

After reading it, if the fortune is of bad luck, you should fold the fortune into a strip and tie it around a branch of a tree, or pillar or in a special place where the shrine indicates, so the predicted bad luck won’t follow you.

But if the fortune brings a message of good luck you can take it with you or put it on your wallet.

A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (松 matsu) and the verb 'to wait' (待つ matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer has the option of tying it for the fortune to have a greater effect or can keep it for luck.

View Of Matsushima Bay

OK, this will be my last installment of posts on Matsushima.

Before I proceed, check out Todd's Wanderings' #Blog4Japan and help either by donating or spreading the word around. Little gestures count too.

Also, anyone wanting to know about the Zuiganji Temple, may want to visit "Rinzai Zen Zuiganji Temple Offered As Refuge for Tsunami Victims" article. Click on the link.

More photos of Matsushima Bay, taken last year. Let's appreciate its beauty and hope the area to return back to normal and its glory sooner rather than later.

Matsushima on a manhole cover. Even the manhole cover is beautiful. ^^

I will resume with normal posting after this, and it'll be of random places around Japan that we've visited over the years. Stay tuned!

On another note, check out Bangsar Village's effort to Help Japan. Fill up the donation box and help them fold one thousand cranes for Japan. ^^

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. 

View From Fukuurajima

The previous post was photos taken at Godaido Island. Now, some nice view we were able to see from Fukuura Island in Matsushima - which we got to by walking on the vermilion bridge.

Fellow tourists kept on offering to take our photos here.

Raimie who loves playing with the sand and chasing waves

And don't forget to support Blog4Japan and check out how you can help Japan's earthquake and tsunami survivors over at Todd's Wanderings site. Every little gesture counts!

View From Godaido Island

More links for ways to help Japan - check out Bento4Japan. For myself, I couldn't agree more with this sentence taken from the site stating that "We had derived so much enjoyment from the Japanese culture and food, it is only right that we give something back to the country that had given us so much".

Also, Bird of Kano-man blog had informed me in his comment earlier about a Matsushima refugee's diary that we can all read and get updated on what's happening there.

Update : here's a link on Todd's How To Help Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami Survivors. Check it out. Also check out his Blog4Japan ( #blog4japan on Twitter) and help spread the word around on how we all can help the survivors.

Now, for Godaido Island.

Just some shots taken on Godaido Island, Matsushima in Miyagi which we visited in 2010.

Omikuji - scrolled up or folded, and unrolling the piece of paper reveals the fortune written on it. I'll put up a post on Omikuji in a few days' time, so do visit again if you want to know more about them. ^^

Souvenir shops.

Remember this temple from my earlier post?

And the view from the island is awesome. Hope the lovely view here can be enjoyed again soon by all.

Even with the crowd visiting the island and Godaido temple, you can feel serene enjoying the scenery here.

And oh! Another update on how to contibute towards the relief effort to Japan. Eat at Sushi-Tei. Or are you afraid to eat Japanese food now, for fear of radiation? I know few of my friends were thinking that way.

At The Rail Station : Matsushima

Why the continuous posts of the same place lately? Read my reasoning here.

Also, read this interesting article over at This Japanese Life; On Watching the News in Japan. That said, let's not forget the heroes that  risked their own lives to avert a nuclear meltdown and also the victims that are still trying to cope with their lives after the tragedy.

OK, now back to Matsushima.

Two stations you can stop at to get to Matsushima Bay.

Matsushima Station on the JR Tohoku main line.

Located 2km away from Matsushima Bay, be prepared to walk a bit if you decide to use this line to get to the bay area.

A train on the track that we spotted a few hundred metres walking from Matsushima Station. We turned right and walked on.

The closest station would be Matsushima-Kaigan Station. The track, elevated behind the station.

To get to Matsushima-Kaigan Station, get on the JR Senseki Line from Sendai Station.

As a coastal site, Matsushima has been severely affected. A state of emergency was declared and any travel to the region should be avoided at the moment. But I hope that once everything turns back to normal, visitors would start returning to visit this place. The shops, the restaurants, the inns and hotels, not to mention the ferries and boats need people in/on them.

The Vermilion Bridge Of Fukuurajima

I posted about Fukuurajima's little shrine in my earlier post. Now, to access the Fukuura Island, one has to cross a 252m vermilion bridge.

If you are wondering why I'm putting up this post at a time like this, read my reasoning here and don't argue with my logic.

Anyway, more shout-out on links about helping out the good people of Northern Japan from Blue Shoe's Just Another Day in Japan, and here's the links for your easy access:
Tofugu's Ways To Help Japan (That Are Better Than Donating Money)
Jason Kelly's Socks for Japan
Second Harvest - food/supplies from those in Japan or monetary donations for those wishing to help from outside Japan
You can also get involve with Hope Letters to give a word of encouragement to the affected people
Check out Man Up For Japan Faceook page
Encourage and help restore the spirits of the people in Japan by participating the Project Hitori Jyanai (You are not alone)
and more links can be found over at Japan Subculture Research Center.

For those in Malaysia, Jusco is setting up a Malaysian AEON foundation donation drive where you can bank-in your donation to their Maybank account.

And if you feel you need to lend a physical helping hand, plea by Japan Ambassador to Malaysia; Masahiko Horie should be taken in consideration. Those intending to give aid  (individually or through organisations) should be done systematically and properly with regards to the nation's sovereignity. Latch on NGOs and agencies that already have a good network in the dissater zone. Don't go harbouring any idea of scattering money in the disaster area yourself or be a hero there.

Also, I totally urged those outside "Japan to read Shoud I Cancel My Trip To Japan?" post by David. I fully agree with his sentiment.

OK, remember me mentioning Fukuurajima and the vermilion bridge at the start of this post? Back to that. Access to the bridge and the island is not free though! It's a tolled bridge, 200yen for adults and 100yen for school-going children.

And the tickets are bought here using these machines. You then pass the tickets to the nice lady manning the cafe there.

Then, you are set to cross the bridge and reach Fukuura Island (Fukuurajima). Woohoo!

It was lovely strolling on the bridge. We were apprehensive about crossing it earlier, seeing that we were there at noon, fearing the sun would be too much for us to handle. But walking on the bridge and with the help of the sea breeze, we didn't feel the heat that much.

Walking on the bridge was fun, but it wasn't as much fun when there are gaggles of tour groups walking behind us, that I can say! It kinda spoilt the "romantic" mood of strolling there and enjoying the ocean view. XD

The bridge seen from the Island.

Anyway, read TEPCO's press realease too if you are interested.

A Nuclear Reactor Explained by Poop and Farts: Nuclear Reactor Boy's Tummy Ache

And have you seen the video of a dog in Japan stays by the side of its ailing friend in the rubble? I was crying bucket loads watching it.

Fukuurajima Shrine

First - a shout-out to Todd Wassel's site - Todd's Wanderings; which I stumbled upon reading David of Ogijima's post earlier. Click on Todd's link above if you are interested in participating, donating or helping to pass the message along for raising much needed funds for the recovery of Northern Japan.

Second -Tazawako Tourism Association puts up a post of Akita Prefecture accepting donations to the disaster-affected areas in Iwate Prefecture. Click the link to get more info on how to donate.

Before my post on Monday, I had mulled over whether I should continue my posts on Japan. I didn't want to put any disaster photos up here because, well... I wasn't even near the affected area and there are plenty of first-hand accounts you can read elsewhere. Maybe it's rather callous of me, but swamping myself and others with bad news continuously isn't going to help much. I just felt there are other ways to show our concern and sympathy for the good people of Northern Japan.

So, anyway - my view is; life needs to go on and this is my second post about a place that was affected by the earthquake last Friday which we visited last year. Another shrine after my post on Godaido Island Temple. Sometimes, we need spiritual strength  and guidance to  go through adversities like this.

A shrine on Fukuurajima Island.

I tried finding more information about this little shrine but came up with nothing. So, if anyone has any info, I'd be so glad if you can share with us. ^^

The Island can be accessed by a vermilion-lacquered bridge extending 256 meters. Fukuurajima, one of the many islands of Matsushima is an island of a natural botanical garden with many wild plants that growing there. There is a superstition that if you cross the vermilion bridge with your lover, you will soon break up.

Godaido Island Temple

Godaido is a Buddhist wooden worship hall located on a small island named Godaidojima, just next to Matsushima Pier in Miyagi Prefecture. The worship hall was founded by Jikaku Daishi in 807 and was  later reconstructed by lord Date Masamune in 1609.

This temple is the oldest Momoyama-style architecture in the Tohoku region and has been designated as an important cultural asset. The ceiling within this hall is decorated with the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The statues of the five great Myoo (Daseifudomyoo, Tohogozanze, Seihodaiitoku, Nanpokundari, and Hoppokongoyasha) or five wisdom kings of Buddhism are enshrined in this temple and are put on public display only once every 33 years. It last opened in 2006, so we have to wait another 20+ years to view the statues.

The red lacquered Sukashibashi. Careful and don't slip between the planks!

A lone omikuji

I wonder how this temple fare in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake? But if I learn anything about Japan's history, the Japanese would not dwell much on it and just dust themselves up and start rebuilding their lives again. And that's the spirit!

I found a photo showing the temple still standing, so check out Meshikui3's photo here.