Matsushima bay is famous among Japanese for being one of the Three Views of Japan (Nihonsankei, 日本三景) along with Miyajima’s red torii (Hiroshima) and Amanohashidate’s sandbar (Kyoto). Yet very few foreign visitors know about Matsushima and its incredible view. In the 17th century, worldwide known Japanese poet Bashô remained almost speechless when discovering it. He wrote then: “Matsushima ! Ô Matsushima ! Matsushima ! (The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Oku no Hosomichi). The classical view is also one of the Heisei 100 landscapes.

How to get there?

Matsushima is about 45 minutes from Miyagi capital city Sendai. From Tokyo, one thus needs to hop on a Shinkansen reaching the big city (either an Akita or a Tohoku one) and then use the JR Tohoku line to Matsushima. About 3 hours and 11000 yens. By car, the journey from Tokyo is about 4,5 hours.