On this Sunday, Ian and I met at the Japan Railroad station in Sendai and took a local train south. We were going to the temple where we would find statue #4 of Kannon and then we would search for statue #5. The information that we had been able to obtain indicated that #5 was in a private home and that it had recently been move about a kilometer from its previous location, also in a private home. We really had no idea what to expect. It was just after 8 in the morning when we reached the platform and discovered that there would be very few other passengers. The platforms for the express trains were crowded, but there was almost no one waiting for the local trains. As you can see, this end of the platform was completely empty.
The train itself was not much better - there being only a handful of people on the train.
After about an hour, including a wait to change trains plus many local stops, we reached Minami Kakuda Station, the starting point for our walk. We were very surprised because there was nothing there. This is the road directly in front of the station. I will have more picture of the area after our return from the temple; we had to wait a long time for a train.
Standing on the road, I turned to the right and looked at a rice paddy. The tracks and platform are just to the right of the picture. In other words, behind me when I took the above picture. Returning to the new picture, you can see an egret in the middle. It was a beautiful, pure white bird.
It must have sensed us watching it, because after about a minute, it flew away.
As we walked deeper into the hills, we found cherry trees in full bloom. That sight alone would have made the trip worthwhile.
There was a beautiful stand of cherry trees in full bloom on one of the hills we passed.
As we continued, we started seeing scattered cherry trees that were either in full bloom or nearly there. If the sun had come out, they would have been truly impressive but the sun stayed home behind the dark clouds, so the colors were a bit washed out.
Further into the hills, we found a place where our map and the ground differed a bit. The reason was this newly constructed river bed and a new bridge to replace the old one that had been just on the other side of the site
In the yard behind one of the houses we saw a very nice shrine, accompanied by a baby shrine.
The area was pretty in a way. The houses were all rambling farm houses that extensions on the extensions and were surrounded by rice paddies.
Another working shed made me want to stop and do a drawing. However, I had no paper nor pen and additionally we had to keep going so that we would be able to complete this leg of the pilgrimage in one day.
As we moved into the low hills, we found that the farmers were using the road as extensions of their working areas.
Once into the shelter of the hills we found that various trees were in bloom and the scenery became a bit more colorful. The dark clouds were disappearing but it was still overcast.
The train itself was not much better - there being only a handful of people on the train.
After about an hour, including a wait to change trains plus many local stops, we reached Minami Kakuda Station, the starting point for our walk. We were very surprised because there was nothing there. This is the road directly in front of the station. I will have more picture of the area after our return from the temple; we had to wait a long time for a train.
Standing on the road, I turned to the right and looked at a rice paddy. The tracks and platform are just to the right of the picture. In other words, behind me when I took the above picture. Returning to the new picture, you can see an egret in the middle. It was a beautiful, pure white bird.
It must have sensed us watching it, because after about a minute, it flew away.
