Day 1: Tokyo-> Sendai
Took the 8:20 am Hayabusa for Sendai, arriving around 10 am. Dropped my bags off at hotel (Sendai ekimae business hotel), then straight to Matsushima Bay. Walked around town a bit before hopping on the sightseeing boat tour around the bay. From there, I went across the bridge to Fuukurabashi and walked around. That entire area is very beautiful and relatively free of tourists. After finishing up walking around the island, I went back into the town and looked for something to eat. Decided to try local melon pan juice and zunda melon pan. I was starting to get kinda tired so I ended up choosing to head back to Sendai, check into my hotel, rest, find something for dinner and walk around the city a bit. Took a nap, went down to Jozenji-dori and the shopping streets nearby, before going to Sendai Station’s Gyutan Dori in search of some delicious beef tongue. Got the 8 piece tongue set (rice, salad, and soup) for around 1900 yen. Finished the evening walking around the city more before retreating to my hotel and preparing for the next day.
Day 2:
Sendai-> Hachinohe
Woke up, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and headed straight to the station to hop on the shinkansen for Hachinohe. From Hachinohe, I went directly to the Tanesashi Coast. If I could recommend any place I saw on this trip, it would be this one. Being able to experience this place on a beautiful day, with nobody around was a highlight of my trip. I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere as peaceful as Tanesashi. I walked along the entire coastline before catching the train (which runs once every two hours) back to Hachinohe to get settled and plan my evening. After experiencing something as beautiful as Tanesashi, I was not ready for how disappointed I was in Hachinohe. I don’t know if I was in the wrong place, or what, but I did not have a good experience there. Simply finding a non-chain restaurant open at 3 pm or so was a huge challenge. I ended up having to walk 40 mins across town to go have a bowl of udon. Walked back to hotel after that and stayed in the room for most of the night.
Day 3:
Hachinohe->Aomori->Tokyo
Last day of my trip. Took a quick shinkansen ride over to Aomori from Hachinohe and spent the entire day walking around. Went to A-Factory, the two big fish markets (Auga and Furukawa), ASPAM (tourist center), and the area around Hakkodamaru. By 2 or 3 pm, I was already getting tired and had seen pretty much everything there was. My shinkansen home was supposed to be from around 8 pm, but I couldn’t imagine staying there until then, so I changed my ticket for an earlier one, headed back to Shin-Aomori, picked up gifts and got on the 4:17 pm to Tokyo. While sleeping on the train home, an alert blasts through my headphones. Turns out there was an earthquake not too far from where I was at the time (Iwate Pref). As surprised as I was, it seemed like no one else cared, nor did the train conductor say anything. Forgot about it and got home 3 hours later exhausted, but ready to plan my next trip!
4 comments
At first I though it was a troll post.
Thanks for sharing your short trip.
I really know the feeling when you are solo and plan a day for a city but finished seeing it very early. Not knowing what to do but you also have to stay more hours so you just force yourself through
How was aomori compared to Sendai. Which city would you prefer more.
Haha. Just came back from
Day 1: Tokyo -> Hachinohe (stay in Hoshino Resort)
Day 2: See Aomori and -> Sendai (see sendai and stay at Matsushima)
Day 3: Enjoy matsushima and back to Tokyo by night
Thanks to 3 day shinkansen pass for foreigners. My wife (who’s from Japan) on the other hand had to get normal tickets.
Still worked out to be a great deal and a fantastic vacation!
I highly recommend Hoshino resort to anyone who enjoys luxury.
> I was not ready for how disappointed I was in Hachinohe. I don’t know if I was in the wrong place, or what, but I did not have a good experience there. Simply finding a non-chain restaurant open at 3 pm
The problem with Hachinohe is that its main draw is the morning fish/seafood market at Tatehana Wharf and the yatai/bar hopping at night.
Again: Much of your problems with both Hachinohe, Aomori was due to planning – Hirosaki (even with castle closed) is probably more interesting city than either of those during daylight hours.
If you planned your second (and third day trip): Sendai → Kakunodate (or Hiraizumi) during the day → Hachinohe (at night and in the early morning) → Hirosaki → Aomori (in the afternoon) – you’d probably had a bit better time.
Ha! I did the trip to Sendai/Matsushima Bay the same weekend as you. We spent the entire trip in Sendai, though.
We were home for ~15-20 minutes before the shakey shakey happened, very disproved to hear the trains did not stop while it happened.