Buddhist Caves 仏教の洞窟の跡

On Saturday, I went with Liz and Kira to Matsushima, an area of Sendai that was called one of Japan's three most beautiful places by the great poet Basho. To get there we rode a train, and I instantly felt like I was back in Tokyo, with the blue-striped JR train coming by ... just like the Keihin-Tohoku line.
土曜日はリズとキラと一緒に芭蕉が日本の三つ一番綺麗な場所の一つと言った仙台の地域の松島に行った。その為に電車に乗って、なんか青空色の列車を見ると丸で又東京に居る感じが出た。京浜東北線の電車の色と一緒の・・・凄く懐かしい。

Before going to Matsushima, however, we stopped at a place called Shiogama (salt pot). There, we went in search of a hill fort but found a huge shrine instead.
松島に行く前に塩釜という所に行った。それで坂城を探しに行ったけどでかい神社を見つけた。

An amusing sign on the road to the shrine. It says "No throwing away cats! We are watching you!".
神社行きの路に貼ってある看板。

There was a holy horse near the main entrance of the shrine! Kira proceeded to feed it carrots. 聖馬が神社の中央口に居た！キラがにんじんを食べさせた。

A sign promoting Shichi-Go-San.
七五三をお勧めしている看板。

A creepy-looking lantern.
何か奇怪っぽいな灯。

This picture turned out nice, didn't it? Kind of like a postcard. Very Japanese.
この写真はよく撮られたね！葉書みたいでしょう。とっても日本っぽい。

So eventually we left the shrine and took the ferry to Matsushima, which isn't one island but a bunch of small ones.
結局その神社を出て松島まで路船に乗った。

One island that we visited (there are bridges at the terminal port) had apparently been the site of a Buddhist temple. As such, there were lots of caves and ruins.
朕們が行った島の一つ（橋はある）は多分お寺の域だったと想う。それで、色んな洞窟と跡が在る。

This particular cave is actually a well, which made an odd sound when I dropped a coin into it. Maybe there's a bell at the bottom?
実はこの洞窟は井戸だ。硬貨を落として不思議な音が出た。底に鈴があるか？

The Light of Buddha.
仏陀の光。











These are pictures of the various statues and caves that make up the temple complex. 寺域で在る様々な石像と洞窟の写真だ。

Buddha's light shines on Liz.
仏陀の光がリズを輝かせる。

The girls ponder the meaning of life.
命の意味を考えている二人の娘等。

The cliffs of the island.
島の岸壁。

Somebody stuffed daruma into this crack in the stone.
岩の穴に誰かが達磨を入れた。

On our way back to the station we found another (lively) temple complex, but as it was getting late and there was an entrance fee we opted to do it another day.
駅に戻りながらもう一つの寺域を見つけたけど、段々暗くなっていたし入金は必要だったので他の日にしようと決めた。

Outside of Sendai Station there were a bunch of girls dancing! The weird thing is ... they were Japanese ... yet they could dance!
仙台駅の外で女性団体が踊っていた！変な点は・・・日本人だったのに・・・踊れた！

The day finished up with dinner at Sukiya and viewing a ganguro.
すき屋で夕飯を食べて顔黒を観て日が終わった。