Sendai

After having been to several cities/towns outside of Tokyo, I've come to the realization that just about anywhere else in Japan is nicer than Tokyo. Sendai, for example, is a beautiful historic city 2-hours away from Tokyo by bullet train, with a much smaller population (ONLY 1 million), and a friendly, laid-back feel to it.

We went there on April 17, planning to see the cherry blossoms there, which are supposed to bloom later than Tokyo because of the colder climate. Well, it just so happened that Japan went back to winter-time that particular weekend, possibly because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, and instead of a rain of cherry blossom petals, it was real snow that snowed on us. We shivered as we walked, and the cold definitely tarnished the experience at Matsushima, which was unfortunate because it was easy to see how beautiful the place must normally be.

What struck me the most, however, was how much warmer people are. In Sendai, a man saw that we were struggling with a map, and approached us to offer help. Never would have happened in Tokyo! At the magnificent, newly-restored Osaki Hachiman Shrine, which was designated a national treasure, we met a friendly and enthusiastic curator, who not only happily blabbed on about the shrine, but also gave us free gifts as we were leaving the shrine. And we never even had to pay an entrance fee! Although residents in Tokyo are very polite, they do not exude friendliness. It's a different story here.