Tohoku, Japan

My last international trip before the pandemic struck in 2020

I had no idea when I went to Japan in the winter of 2019 that it would be my last international trip for over a year. Maybe two! It was technically my second trip to Japan, although my first was only a brief stop at the Tokyo airport in 2006 on my way to Korea. This time I would be staying a few days and touring the Tohoku region. Japan had long been on my radar as a place I’d love to explore, and I was glad to finally have the chance.

The first couple of nights were spent in Sendai. We toured sites associated with the 2011 earthquake and tsumani including the damaged Sendai Arahama Elementary School that has been converted into a very powerful museum. From the rooftop — where people had been evacuated by helicopter when the wave surged in — you could see the expanse of the devastation. Major progress has been made in the clean-up, and some preventative measures have been put in place to hopefully prevent a repeat event in the future. We also visited the Great East Japan Earthquake Memorial Tower, built to the same height of the wave.

An evening spent seeking out street food and pubs was a trip highlight, but some of my favorite images from these first two days in Japan were actually made from my hotel window. These overhead views of the busy streets felt like they summed up my initial experience in Sendai better than the museums, monuments, etc. Japan is modern, colorful, vibrant and bustling. And I would get to experience even more of that in the coming days.

Our welcome banquet provided some colorful dancers and musicians. And, of course, there was more food. But I pulled myself away from the buffet long enough to document the evening’s performances. More on this trip in the coming posts…