Matsushima Trip

 

Reporter: Kashfia Ahamed (Bangladesh

 

 

Matsushima- ranked within Japan’s most scenic views for centuries and is a huge national and international attraction all over the world. Matsushima bay also stands among  ‘World’s Most Beautiful Bays’ category. It serves not only as a rich greenery in the environment but also as local tourism sites and support Tohoku to preserve tourism. The bay is dotted by around 260 small islands standing with different shapes and sizes, where one island might look completely non identical to another. On the clear blue sea floats the small beads like islands when looked from a further distance. I heard from many of my friends that Matsushima itself doesn’t only consists of the popular bay but also many other major attractions and experiences hiding within the area. This trip to Higashi Matsushima was a big opportunity for me to get closer to the more local and unrevealed areas of the region, to get to see how the delicate issues around  are fundamental life cycles and stories of the people residing there.

I shall start from the very beginning. I never felt so excited to go on a trip- first of all because I love bays and second of all who doesn’t want to experience Japan's’ top tourism destinations? As I waited for the car to arrive I prepared myself for a long thrilling day. It was early morning when I was on the way to Matsushima with one of my friends and the organizers. It was about an hour ride to Matsushima and from there we were at first taken to the restaurant- ‘Chanko Haginoi’ for lunch. I had some idea that we were going to a very special restaurant that serves renowned Nori Udon Noodles. My excitement level  reached to its peak as we entered the restaurant. The first sense I got was the delicious udon smell and the next moment I knew my stomach was churning already! I looked at the decorations around and the photographs on the walls. Interestingly the big photographs had a Sumo player in each of them. The owner of the restaurant Nobuaki Omori approached us with the story behind the establishment of the restaurant as we were taking to our seats. As he explained that he was a sumo wrestle before he established the restaurant. He left the occupation because his body was not capable to be as big as that of a sumo wrestle. As he started off with his new life with the restaurant, he named it Chanko Haginoi- where Haginoi was his sumo wrestler name. On the other hand I also got to know that Chanko is a Japanese stew, commonly eaten in large quantities by sumo wrestlers as a weight gain diet. I thought to myself how much the restaurant name was related to the owner’s life and incidents.

As he went on, he told us that he got the idea to use seaweed in the udon as seaweed(Nori) was found in excessive quantities in Higashi Matsushima and it was an intriguing idea to bring the Nori Udon to highlight. He also believed that the Nori Udon acts as a part of the Higashi Matsushima culture and wants it to well- known among other people so that it can serve as a Tourist attraction too. I certainly was mesmerized by his slightly different background and story when suddenly the food interrupted us. With the look- the Nori udon noodles dish was extremely well decorated in a traditional japanese style with ‘Tempura’ of prawns and fried vegetables on one side and the Nori Udon on the other. I could not wait any longer! As I gulped the first bite, it was as if I got a distinct taste of Nori and the sea blended into a delicious mixture. I kept eating without any stop until finally I finished the complete dish and was now completely full and rejuvenated for our further trip.

 

This time on the car was our second destination- Oku Matsushima Experience Network. As we approached, I could literally see the sea growling and dancing in front of me. We were about to do basket fishing on a boat! The instructor who was helping us was named Suzuki Yoshinori was a very humle and ‘Genki’ man! The instructor was a part of the community representatives too and explained what exactly the ‘motto’ of the community is. Apparently, the community works to bring human and nature close together in a bond and gives details about how should human and nature coexist. An example of human interacting with the sea was a very important example that illustrates how each of them mutually supports and benefits another. I could not wait to experience the sea and fishing in a closer scale! We were taken into a boat which skidded through the water in the sea where we were suppose to stop by to catch fish in baskets! The wind was very strong and I could barely hear the voices around me due to the speed of the boat. We finally stopped at one point of the sea where we picked up a fish catching basket from the sea which was full of fish, crabs, snails and starfish! As the instructor helped us to bring out the species from the basket, I was overwhelmed to see so many of sea creatures alive in front of me. Next We stopped at 2 other stops and caught more of the sea species until we finally headed back to the shore among the flying seagulls. We were offered chips by the instructor to feed the seagulls- which according to me was an amazing experience to watch them catching and eating chips in between the sea. In the end of the boat trip we finally arrived to the shore with a big tray full of delicious and funky sea fishes and creatures. The instructor helped us identity each of them and explained further how some of them reproduce and continues their life cycle in the sea. As I listened carefully to the instructor, I thought maybe this is one of the best boat trips I ever had in my life!

 

 

During the end of the trip we made another stop at the ‘Aomina’ which was the best place to relax after a long exciting trip. it had a Footbath out of cost and we were taken to the footbath to experience a good relaxing time.This was my first time trying footbath!  We all enjoyed the beauty of the area as the foot bath was in an open area with the bay as a view. On the plus side was the warm water to dip our feet into and just  breathe in the light breeze that was flowing. We also had softies and had a good look in the place before we finally set off to Sendai. While returning I could only think of the wonderful experience I had and how much more I want the trip to happen again.  

 

 

東松島旅行

カシフィア・アハメド（バングラデシュ）

 松島湾は何世紀もの間、素晴らしい眺めを有する国内有数の景勝地として国内のみならず世界的にも魅力ある場所です。

松島を抱く松島湾は「世界で最も美しい湾クラブ」に加盟しました。豊かな緑だけでなく、地域の観光地としての役割も果たしています。
松島湾には260余りの島々が点在しており、それぞれ大小異なる形で、透明な青い海には遠くから見ると島が小さなビーズのように浮かんでいます。
多くの友人から、松島は観光地という側面だけではなく、他にも多くのアトラクションや体験がある場所だと聞きました。今回の東松島への旅は、知られざる地域に近づき、東松島に住む人々の物語を聞く貴重な機会でした。

これまで、旅行に行く事がこんなに気分が盛り上がる事はありませんでした。

私は海沿いが大好きです。そして、誰が日本で有数の景勝地に行きたくない人がいるでしょうか！迎えの車を待っている間、ワクワクしていました。東松島へは車で約1時間です。
まず、東松島の有名なのりうどんを提供している「ちゃんこ萩乃井」へお昼を食べに行きました。お店に入ると私はワクワクした気持ちがピークに達し、美味しいうどんの香りに次の瞬間お腹が鳴っていました‼
壁に飾られている写真を見渡すと、興味深い事に力士が写っていました。
ここの店主である大森宜勝さんがお店の創業について話をしてくれました。大森さんはお店を開業する前は力士であることを説明してくれました。
大森さんは体型に恵まれなかった事から引退の道を選び、お店の開業と共に新たな人生を歩みました。大森さんの四股名の萩乃井からお店を「ちゃんこ萩乃井」と名づけました。

私はちゃんこが日本の煮込み料理で、一般的に力士が体重を増やすために食べる物だという事を知り、お店の名前が大森さんの人生や出来事に深く関係しているのだと考えました。
大森さんは話を続けました。うどんに海苔を使うアイディアは、東松島では元々、良質な海苔の生産地だという事から、のりうどんも有名になると考えたからです。大森さんはのりうどんが東松島の文化の1つとなる事を信じ、多くの人に知ってもらえることを望んでいます。のりうどんは観光客にも魅力ある物になる事でしょう。
大森さんの異色の経歴や、のりうどんの話に夢中になっていると、料理が運ばれてきました。のりうどんは、えびや野菜の天ぷらと共に綺麗に盛り付けられていました。これ以上もう待てない!!
最初の一口で、海苔と磯のうま味が混ざり合ったのがはっきりとわかりました。食べ終わるまで食べ続け、残さず食べ終わるとお腹が一杯で、次の目的地に向けて元気を取り戻しました。
 

車は次の目的地の奥松島ネットワークに向かっていました。近づいて近付いていくと、海がうねり踊る様子が目に入りました。

船に乗り、かご漁をしました。インストラクターの鈴木義典さんに指導してもらいました。鈴木さんはこの団体の代表です。人と自然がより近いものとなり絆をうみ、どのように自然と共生していくかについて話してくれました。人が海と交流を行う事は、互いをどのように支え利益をもたらしていくか、とても重要なものでした。
私は早く間近で海を感じ、かご漁を体験したくなりました。
かご漁の仕掛けを引き上げるため船に乗り込みました。風がとても強く、船のスピードに周りからは喚声が聞こえました。最初のポイントに着き、魚やカニ、穴子、ヒトデなどがたくさん入っている仕掛けを引き上げました‼　鈴木さんは仕掛けから出すのを手伝ってくれました。私は海の生物が生きているのを目の当たりにし、圧倒されました。
次に他の2つの仕掛けの場所に止まり、海の生き物を捕まえると、カモメに囲まれながら岸へ向かいました。鈴木さんがカモメの餌やりを提案してくれました。
船の両側からカモメが餌をキャッチして食べる様子は信じられない程素晴らしい体験でした。

船旅は終わり、大きなトレーにはたくさんの美味しそうで面白い海の生き物をのせ、船が岸に着きました。鈴木さんは1つ1つ捕まえた生き物について説明してくれました。

鈴木さんの話を聞き、これまでの人生で体験をした事のない船旅は最高なものだと感じました。

 

旅のおわりに旅の疲れを癒すのにピッタリな遊覧船乗り場に立ち寄りました。

そこには無料で出来る足湯がありました。足湯に浸かり、リラックスした良い時間を過ごしました。私は今回が初めての足湯体験です‼足湯が出来る場所は松島湾を見渡せるオープンエリアにあったので、松島湾の美しさを満喫しました。
仙台に帰る前に、見晴らしの良い中でアイスクリームを食べました。帰りながら、今回の素晴らしい経験を思い、また東松島を訪れたいと考えていました。