Day 3 then and a very much needed lie in a vain attempt to help shake off the jet lag. Is that how it works? Not really sure, but it didn’t work so hey-ho, off we trolled at about 11am to find something remotely resembling breakfast and then some proper sight-seeing.

After watching Chris Broad’s video about Sendai, (go watch it – it’s well worth it) the castle was definitely on the agenda but it wasn’t clear how to get there. Having poured over the Sendai Tourist Guide we’d picked up at the station, it turns out that the Sendai sightseeing loop bus called the るーぷる (Loople) takes you there for a few quid. Sounds like a plan.

Managed to navigate ourselves back to Jozenjidori so we could eventually pick up the bus, scoped out a few places to eat first and settled on a Caffé Veloce on the corner. Bit too late for breakfast but some good strong coffee and toasted sandwiches went down nicely thank you very much. (Actually, in retrospect this was what we ended up having for breakfast quite a bit on this trip, from different places).

Feeling slightly more human (if still a bit muzzy) we waited about 10 minutes for the bus to turn up. They run every 15-20 minutes depending on the day and have a real retro feel about them; green velour anyone? We got ourselves all-day passes (一日券: Ichi Nichi Ken) for about 600 Yen/£4.50 each). Bargain!

The bus pulled into the main station soon after and immediately filled up with what looked like an entire coach load of other tourists who were bowed off by someone from their tour company. Just as well we’d jumped on it when we did! The bus then took its time ambling through the main streets and out into the outskirts of Sendai. You do get to see a lot and it’s all very interesting. Anyway, after about 15 minutes the recorded announcement said we would soon be at Zuihoden, the famous mausoleum dedicated to the Date clan. Right, ok, let’s go see that then! (No clue at the time what it was all about but hey why not? This time it worked out really well. Later in the day….not so much!)

To get to the mausoleum complex itself it’s a relatively short, but pretty vertiginous walk up a hill. They know it’s steep – they provide free walking sticks to borrow. Each with a bamboo cane in hand we marched>walked>staggered a bit up the path to see what it was all about.

What it’s all about is exactly what’s on the tin – a series of house-sized mausoleums dedicated to the Lords of Sendai, primarily Date Masamune. I’m not getting into a history lesson here but he’s the guy you see in an awful lot of stuff about feudal Japan with a half-moon on his helmet and wearing an eye-patch. He’s known as “The One Eyed Dragon” and we got this information within minutes of buying our tickets (appropriate laughs from the ticket booth ladies at my hoodie – Tracey died a bit more inside) as we were immediately approached by an volunteer guide – Taichi San.

After introducing himself and asking about us and where we came from we had quite a long conversation all about the Date Masamune, his sons, the destruction of the site during the war and its subsequent restoration. His English wasn’t fluent but it was certainly better than my Japanese so we got through it all in a mixture of both and it was all very convivial. He then showed us where the main mausoleum was and said he’d see us later. Nice one.

After more steep steps we had a good look round the Date’s mausoleum which, although not huge, is really detailed and highly decorative. And the front was open which (according to the sign) is only on special days. Did they do it just for our visit then? Yeah ok, don’t believe your own hype son, it’s just a coincidence!

Back down the steps and another (shorter) conversation with Taichi San about Japanese Dragons. Apparently there are eight dragons on the mausoleum (which looking back on the photos there certainly are) and they are for good luck. Japanese Dragons, according to Taichi San, aren’t bad creatures like Western ones; they breathe water and actually help put fires out. Didn’t know that. (Looking up it on t’Internet later it transpires that it’s all Oriental Dragons rather than just Japanese ones. Let’s put that down to a translation issue…). Bit more chat including his opinion that countries should all work together to resolve differences rather than fight (can’t argue with that) and the same is true for personal relationships. It was all in good spirits and I got to trot out one of my (very few) Japanese expressions, for once in an appropriate context, so all good.

喧嘩するほど中がいい (kenka suru hodo naka ga ii: the more you fight, the better your relationship)

We got a bit more advice about what to see next and then said goodbye. Nice guy and a gentle start to Japanese conversation this trip too. You have to ease in gradually (there’s a joke there somewhere but I’m not going there as it’s a family show).

Another hour or so of mooching about the site, checking out the other mausoleums and the children’s graveyard, which was a bit sombre but interesting, especially the way that lots of the memorials seem to have been repaired over time. At least it’s looked after.

Carefully back down the path, returned the walking sticks and then on the way back down to the bus stop we spotted the entrance to the Zuihō-ji Temple so we spent a while investigating. I’m making out that I knew what we were looking at but I had no clue at the time; I looked it up later! Definitely worth a good look if you’re ever there. It’s right next to the Otamaya Kindergarten (I could at least read that on the sign!) which provides an “interesting” clash of Japanese and Western Cultural icons. :-) 

Back then on the (rather full) bus to take us up to the site of Sendai Castle. No there’s no actual castle, just the site and some of the fortifications. We did know that after watching the Sendai video

To be honest, you are going to get this an awful lot if you visit Japan and its historic sites. Frequently you’re looking at reconstructions or remains, either due to earthquakes, fires, civil war, government edicts, WWII or a mixture of all of them. As an example, here’s an excerpt from the Japan Visitor website about Sendai (Aoba) Castle:

The buildings of Aoba Castle were constantly damaged by repeated fires and earthquakes throughout its history. Then in the Meiji Period, from the 1870's on, parts of the castle were dismantled.

A major fire in 1882 destroyed more of the original fortress and finally an American air raid during World War II and subsequent US military occupation of the site post-War obliterated any remains.

(https://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-castles/aoba-castle)

See what I mean? Anyway, don’t be put off, it’s still worth the visit, even if just for the view over Sendai.

Good eh? You can even see the giant white Buddha in the distance that Chris Broad mentions. No we didn’t go – it’s not on the Loople route and more importantly you’ll see why we didn’t have the energy later.

We spent a good hour taking about a million panorama shots, photos of the statue of old One-Eyed Dragon himself and pretending to be eagles in front of the appropriate statue. To be fair, I’d offered to take the photo of two Japanese ladies who’d been doing that and they offered to return to return the favour so it would have been rude not to eh?

Also tracked down and bought two of the fabled Zunda Shakes (again, seen on the video) which are made with Soy Beans. Sounds all sorts of wrong, but they are actually really nice. I’d actively have another one if they were available and Tracey…drank hers. Not sure it’s entering her top 10 anytime soon. But it didn’t get chucked away so that’s a bonus.

Several photos of Uisuki and Daiou with the ladies from the Zunda Shake shop and the obligatory “head-in-a-hole” shots (I don’t know what they’re called – that’s close enough) and we made our way back down to the bus stop, ostensibly to complete the loop and go back to the hotel.

But wait, what’s this being announced on the bus information system? Why, it’s the Botanical Garden of Touhoku University.

“That sounds interesting.”

“We like Botanic Gardens don’t we?”

“Remember Shinjuku Gyoen last year?”

“Oh yes – shall we go and see?”

Etc.

So off we got along with…no-one else. Warning 1.

Like the sign says, we trotted over to the Daily Yamazaki conbini and I asked the guy behind the counter for two tickets. He gave me a bit of a weird look but sold me two tickets along with a map and instructions not to go into the sections indicated because they were too dangerous after the Typhoon. Warning 2.

Tickets in hand we happily skipped off to the entrance gate (figuratively you understand. I don’t “skip”. I’m not a goat) and went through the turnstile.

Immediately it went dark and silent (not figuratively; actually) like we’d gone through some sort of portal. Warning 3.

Undeterred we started along the path. The long path. The long long path that wound ever onwards and gradually downwards. What was billed as a "Botanical Garden" should really have been billed as “The Lost Valley”. Seriously not so much greenhouses packed with plants through which one might take a leisurely stroll of an afternoon, and more of a Densely Packed Jungle through which one might Lose One's Way, Never Return to Civilisation and Be Adopted and Raised By Gorillas.

There Were Vines.

Honest to God. VINES!

After really quite a time of this we eventually came out into a clearing…ok – let’s drop the Tarzan analogy for a bit……park where there were toilets and signs of life in the form of a someone from what looked like the maintenance crew in a buggy.

We didn’t see one other person. Warning 4.

“Shall we go back the way we’ve come?”

“No! Let’s press on. Look at the map – there another path marked on the other side of the park that looks like we can follow it and it’ll eventually loop back round.” 

“Excellent. Wonder why it’s marked with all those closely spaced lines?”

“Dunno, don’t suppose it matters” Last, and Very Much Final, Warning.

Across the park we went, through the gate, and began to walk down the path. Not along. Just DOWN. And down and down and down… It was ridiculously steep and just seemed to go on forever. We passed a map discarded on the trail by a previous hapless adventurer and wondered if we were going to come across their long forgotten desiccated skeleton later…

15 minutes of this passed in the vain hope that it would level out. Did it? Not a bit. Could we even see an end to it? Nope. We gave up and turned back.

See now, that’s the problem with walking down a steep path for 15 minutes. It’s deceptively easy.

Walking back up however…

No. Sorry.

UP!

I genuinely though at one point “Right, this is how it ends lad. Here come the heart attack and there’s no way to get medical help in time. Bugg’rit”

It was relentless. Just relentless. Skiing down moguls is a light stroll in the park by comparison. My legs were literally shaking. Even Tracey was struggling which is unheard of normally (see last years’ jaunt up the “mountain” in Hakone). I have never ever seen a path so ridiculous that didn’t involve Sherpas and oxygen before the attempt. At least we finally knew what the lines across the path were – bloody contour lines!

Spoiler alert - since I’m not writing this from beyond the veil or via a satellite phone we obviously made it back up eventually. But if you examine the photo of me sitting in the “park” getting my breath back closely, you can see the look of joy utterly failing to cross my face.

We retraced our steps back to the gate (or “Portal of the Damned” as I’m sure it must have said somewhere), and to the conbini to get a drink and possibly an air ambulance. I had looked up a new word in the park while my heart rate came back down to triple figures.

険しい (Kewashii) which the dictionary defines as “precipitous; rugged; inaccessible; impregnable; steep”.

I bought drinks and took them to the counter.

I looked at the guy who’d sold us the tickets.  

“険しい!”

He pissed himself laughing.

“はい。険しい”

He must have known. We can’t have been the first. Maybe we were just the first to make it back before nature reclaimed us.

Anyway, drinks drunk we waited for the Loople bus, praying we hadn’t missed the last one as it had got genuinely dark and, being a sightseeing bus, it doesn’t run after about 4pm. We couldn’t have walked back - that I think would have finished me. I’d still be there lying at the side of the road and weeping silently.

Luckily after 10 minutes the glory that was a small cream and brown bus appeared round the corner and we squeezed ourselves aboard (it was jam packed – I think it might have been the last bus to be honest). Even though a seat wasn’t a possibility and the bus took another 30 minutes to complete the loop, seeing it appear was still one of the most wonderous sites in Sendai at the time!

Once back in town we decided to stay on the bus to the main station rather than get off where we’d started this morning so we could go to the tourist information centre and see if they could give us any information about getting to Tashirojima in the morning. This was one of the “must-sees” on this trip, providing getting there was physically possible.

And they did.

And it is.

In fact the second I mentioned the word Tashirojima they immediately produced a sheet with all the timings on it, from which train to catch from Sendai to which station, details and cost of taxi to the port, sailing times and (most importantly) final return times. It’s surprisingly easy providing you get up early and don’t miss the final ferry back. We really wanted to see the cats but a night on a barely inhabited island with nowhere to stay would have been pushing the moniker “Mad Cat Person” a tad far. Well played Sendai Tourist Information, well played!

Slow, and slightly stiff, walk back to the hotel for a much needed shower and lie down, pausing on the way only to pop into a music store to see if they had a copy of ‎ルドルフとイッパイアッテナ on disc. It’s one of my favourite movies but getting it with Japanese subtitles is tough, so time to get an actual disc. They did have one, so that got snapped up. My god though, DVDs are SO expensive in Japan; like £25-£30 each. In the era of downloads, really not sure why – anyone got a clue? Maybe it’s just that this one is really going to be a Japan only release (it goes on about the importance of learning Kanji) so maybe the market’s not that big in comparison to Western origin titles. Not sure though to be honest.

Back out in the evening to Gyouza King for basically a direct repeat of last night, albeit minus the floor show this time.

Uisuki and Daiou did end up getting their photos taken with a nice Japanese couple tonight. The guy had taken a phone call and had suddenly shouted out happily and really loudly. Then he was all embarrassed and apologised.  I asked him if he had won the lottery and he laughed. So fair game for the “can we have a picture with our mascots?” routine. No problem, and his girlfriend had a photo too. Then they both took their own shots with them.

So another lovely evening closed out another eventful day.

Tomorrow – CATS!