Wooden prayer blocks outside Aoba Castle, castle of Date Masamune, in Sendai. August 2010.
The entirety of the huge indoor shopping street in downtown Sendai is literally filled with paper decorations for Tanabata. The streamers are often quite elaborate and detailed. We found some with tiny paper Masamune heads all over them!
A make-shift Pokemon Center was set up inside a mall downtown, and there were these huge inflatable models of the new starters! It was really exciting, Black and White was still quite a bit away from being released.
Sengoku Basara themed rickshaw carts waiting for you at the bottom of the hill from Zuihoden, Date Masamune’s mausoleum.
A short walk through the woods led us to Zennoden and Kansenden, the tombs of Masamune’s successors Date Tsunamune and Date Teramune.
Normally, the mausoleum doors are kept shut, however every year during the Tanabata Festival, the doors are open so that the wooden statue of Date Masamune is visible. One interesting point is that most depictions of Masamune depict him with both eyes, rather than with a missing eye.
Walking up hundreds of steps in near hundred degree weather to Zuihoden, the mausoleum of Date Masamune was daunting but definitely worth it. The entire building is covered in ornate carvings and painted in bright colors and accented with bright, shining gold. It was absolutely breathtaking, I don’t think I could do anything but mindlessly utter the word ‘wow’ repeatedly while snapping photos.
About me
My name is Cyrene. I go to Japan for a month every summer. Here are some pictures.
