FInishing the walk

 I found a break in the trees and could look out to the north. I knew it was north because I could see my condo in the distance, the large buildings slightly to the left of center. Keeping this direction in mind, I entered the park. I was close to home but had never been in this area before and did not know the route home. However, I knew that by going north I would eventually run into something I recognized.

 As you can see, the dirt path in the park was well worn but I did not see any people. Finally, I came out at the back of a school, the Yaotome Junior High School and realized that the students where the ones who frequented the park. I got there just as school was letting out and a few students started into the park. Most of the students would have remained in school for clubs and other activities. Then later they would go to a prep school to study for the high school entrance exams.

 I left the park and started to walk north. The problem was that most of the roads were dead ends, so I had to keep turning this way and that way. Here the road terminated in an empty lot. The road to the right ended at another entrance to the park, so I turned right.

 Here another road ended in a fence.

 I finally got out into a built up area and discovered a small church. I am constantly amazed at how many churches there are in Sendai.

 I followed the road to the west and and found a place that I recognized. It was the pond beside the subway tracks. The subway is actually an elevated way here. Later when I looked at a map, I found that this pond is part of the park that I had been wandering around in, Mamisawa Koen. As I skirted the pond to get to the road back to Yaotome station, I found a crew trimming the bushes and weeding. You can see one of the workmen in the distance.

Near Yaotome station, I stopped and took a picture of a building that is no longer there. Apparently it was badly damaged in the quake. It used to contain a martial arts studio, a dentist, and a store specializing in bottled water. It has been unoccupied for a year and a half.