東北三大祭りを締めくくる仙台七夕まつり。
仙台市中心部のアーケード内や街の至るところに色とりどりな吹き流しが見られ、涼やかな夏の気分を味わえます。
2019年以来の通常開催となった今年は感染対策が大幅に緩和され、
多くの観光客が吹き流しをかき分けるようにして進む景色が中心商店街に戻ってきました。

宮城蔵王遠刈田温泉から御釜まで、日出を見に行って来ました。
山頂の日出も良いですが、仙台からいらしていた旅好きの紳士から
絶景ポイントに案内していただき、見事な朝日を撮る事が出来ました。
エコーライン駒草平とってもお勧めです！

秋田県角館で２月の火振りかまくらが行われる、迫力ある「火振り」です。

宮城県岩沼市中心部にある「竹駒神社」は、日本三大稲荷の一社にも数えられる由緒正しい稲荷神社です。
ここでは毎年7月～8月末まで「夏詣」が開催され、期間中はガラス風鈴や白狐のオリジナル風鈴が境内参道に飾られ、涼を感じる夏の装いが施されています。
風に揺られる風鈴が、夏らしい音色を奏でるので気持ちが涼みますよ。

山形県飯豊町の白川湖です。
ここは湖の端で風の影響を受けないため、マリンブルーの湖面に水没林のリフレクションがとっても奇麗に出ました。

山形県飯豊町の白川湖です。
早朝の水没林とカヌーと朝もやが、とっても爽やかでした。

リフレクションを狙ったのですが、風の影響でダメですね。来年に期待です！！

宮城県仙台市に境内を構える「正楽寺」です。
あまり目立たない寺院ですが、初夏は山門に覆いつくすほどの美しい青紅葉のお陰で、降り注ぐ木漏れ日が心地いい場所です。

幻の温泉郷

山形県 銀山温泉
温泉好きや写真家ならば、一度は訪れたい日本の絶景温泉郷！

山の奥に現れる景色は、寒さを忘れ
息を呑むほど美しい眺めでした(^^)

秋田県湯沢市稲庭から、にかほ市に向かう途中チョット道に迷い312号線沿いでたまたま出会った沼です。（谷地沢放牧場付近）
ここは道路幅が狭く砂利道を走ります。突然「沼」が現れ、その先に「鳥海山」が見え素晴らしいロケーションにビックリです。勿論初めての場所です。
早速、三脚にカメラをセットし撮影を開始しました。

鳥海山とリフレクションを撮影するのには良いのですが、上部に送電線が有りファインダーに入るので注意が必要です。
今回のテーマである「日本の穴場観光スポット」かな？誰もいませんでした。

宮城県柴田郡川崎町に建設された釜房ダム(釜房湖)です。
写真は釜房大橋の脇から撮影した夕景です。
晴れた日は、夕陽と夕焼け色に染まった水面がとても美しく、何度も足を運びたくなる場所です。

宮城県大崎市に鎮座する斗瑩稲荷神社(とけいいなりじんじゃ)です。
初夏は色鮮やかな新緑と鳥居のコントラストがとても美しい神社です。

宮城県七ヶ浜町にある「よがさきおはじきアート」
松島湾に面した代ヶ崎浜地区広場にある防潮堤アートです。
東日本大震災によって被災した海岸線にコンクリートの防波堤がつくられ、企業や町内で活躍するクリエイターの協力を得て、全長100メートルにも及ぶ「おはじきアート」が制作されたようです。
ここは塩竈湾と松島湾の島々が広がり、とても景色のいい場所なんです。

宮城県登米市にある若草稲荷神社から見れる風景です。
なんの変哲もない田舎の風景なのですが、青い空に緑の田園、そしてきれいな空気、ここは僕にとってお気に入りの場所です。

御所湖広域公園です。
ボートやカヌーを体験でき、休日は家族連れが多く見られる場所です。
特にこの場所は湖の端にあたる場所なのですが、晴れていれば夕方になると水面が黄金色に染まり、幻想的な光景が見れる素敵な場所です。

Went to Fukushima over the Golden Week holiday.

On our first day we took a bus to Ouchi-Juku and had a great time looking at all the buildings and different shops. The negi soba (soba with a large leek) is famous there so my girlfriend ended up ordering that. She said it was a bit difficult to eat, but fun and tasted great. We also ended up trying a variety of different snacks in the area. The Age-Manju (deep fried manju) was really tasty and we actually ended up getting again later. I was able to take a photo from the famous photo spot at Ouchi-Juku as well (photo #4). I only have an iPhone camera, so the quality isn't the best, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

On the way back from Ouchi-Juku we returned via Yunokami Onsen Station and so we got to use the footbath that was attached to the station. It was a really great way to rest up after walking for so long.
The station itself was also really photogenic, so I snapped a couple photos from the platform and between the railroad tracks.

The hotel we were staying at for the night was in Aizu-Wakamatsu and on the way we found a nice little shop with a large akabeko cow outside and the staff was kind enough to take a photo of us with it.

For dinner, we went to a place called Sassa (左雨) and had a really great time. We ended up talking to the owners for a bit and they were super nice. It was also the best tonkatsu I've eaten in my entire life. It was cooked tp perfection, and the dressing that came with the salad and cabbage matched perfectly with it. We probably ended up eating way too many fried foods but it was all really tasty.

The next day we visited Tsuruga Castle.
The castle was quite cool, but it was a bit more crowded than Ouchi-Juku. Considering it was Golden Week, it wasn't much of a surprise.

Either way we had a great time. We started off going for a boat ride around the moat (I got my daily exercise in, as I was rowing the whole time lol). After that we went up into the castle and were able to see a view of the city from the top which was pretty cool. There were also live performances going on in the field in front of the castle which were fun to watch.

At that point it was about lunch time so we went over to the row of food stalls (photo #16) and grabbed a bite to eat. There were shops selling all sorts of goods as well, so we spent some time window shopping. After Tsuruga Castle, we went to Oyakuen Garden (御薬園). We ended up sharing a green tea by the pond and relaxing for a bit which was nice.

There were a lot of koi inside the pond and a variety of birds flying around as well, so the atmosphere was very relaxing. Photo #20 is supposedly the best view in the garden (it was written on a sign) so I snapped a photo of it. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it was a really incredible view.

All in all, we had a really amazing time in Fukushima, but we definitely would like to visit again, as there's a lot we didn't get to do still. I really wanted to try an akabeko workshop but we didn't get the chance, which was a bit disappointing, but we still had a lot of fun, so I can't complain.

I definitely recommend visiting Aizu-Wakamatsu if you have the chance!

福島県磐梯朝日国立公園の桶沼です。
吾妻小富士の頂から眺める事が出来ます。
残雪の中に濃紺の水面が美しい場所でした。
そこに見えるのに行くのは、この時期は大変でした。
間近で観れたら感動間違えなしです。

福島県の会津地方へ旅行へ行ったゴールデンウィーク。たまたま通りかかった休憩場所が田子倉ダムと田子倉湖。ダムと湖が広がり、湖の水面に映る残雪混じりの山がとても綺麗でした。
穴場と言える癒しスポットです。

福島県の磐梯朝日国立公園内の桶沼、浄土平南部の吾妻小富士と相対する古い成層火山です。四月の終わり、新緑と青い湖を観ようと行ってみるとまだ残雪は多く
撮影場所にたどり着くのが大変でしたが、湖畔の残雪と芽吹き始めた木々の新緑が濃紺の湖面に映り込む自然美に触れ感動！
おすすめの穴場です。

東北地方唯一の国営公園である「国営みちのく杜の湖畔公園」
春には菜の花やチューリップなど色彩豊かな花々が見頃を迎え、東北6県を代表する歴史的な古民家も見ることができます。

「南部片富士」の名で知られる岩手山を背景に、広大な牧草地に立つ小岩井農場の一本桜。
樹高約20ｍの堂々たる大きさで、樹齢100年以上といわれるエドヒガンの一本桜です。
雪が残る雄大な岩手山を背景に凛として咲く一本桜の姿は、雫石町の春のシンボルだそうです。
色鮮やかな桜と緑豊かな牧草地とのコントラストは、農場ならではの景観で見応え十分でした。

福島にて。旅行に行った時にたまたま知って2時間歩いた五色沼。
2時間歩いたことなんて忘れるくらいの綺麗さでした！！
その中の１つです！

桜と松島湾を一望できる「西行戻しの松公園」からの景色です。
特に日の出時の桜が美しすぎて、ため息が出ます。

Went on a trip to Sendai last weekend and had an awesome time. We were only there for 2 days and 1 night, but we managed to do everything we wanted to.

On the first day we arrived at Sendai Station (the beautiful stained glass in photo #1) and had lunch, after which we headed over to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and then headed off to do some sightseeing.

Our first stop was Funaoka Castle Park. The cherry blossoms were really nice and there was a cherry blossom festival or something like that taking place and there were some food stalls as wells, so we picked up some snacks and relaxed for a bit. We were able to see the large Kannon statue from a distance but opted not to go all the way to the top because we had some other stuff planned.

After Funaoka Castle Park we made our way towards Shiroishi Castle.
On the way to the castle from Funaoka Castle Park there’s the famous Hitome Senbon-Zakura, which we were able to enjoy for the entire walk to the castle. The cherry blossoms along the river were quite the treat.

During our walk to the castle, we came across another cherry blossom festival with more food stalls. We had a couple more snacks and enjoyed the views before heading towards the station to get to Shiroishi Castle.

As we were walking to the castle I found some cool art on some shop shutters.
The path leading up to the castle was dotted with lanterns and was really pretty, especially as it was nearing sunset.

We arrived at the castle with just a bit of sunlight left and we were just lucky enough to take some nice photos.
After the castle, we had some dinner at a nice Izakaya and headed back to Sendai Station where our hotel was.

The first day was all about seeing the beautiful views of cherry blossoms, but the second day we decided to enjoy the history and culture of the area.

We started off by visiting Zuihoden, the mausoleum for Date Masamune. On the approach to the complex, we saw some interesting buildings where we stopped to take pictures and check out the architecture.

The row of trees lining the steps to Zuihoden reminded me of the famous row of trees at Togakushi Shrine in Nagano.

There were a lot of different structures, and learning about the history and what they were all built for was really interesting.
Unfortunately I have too many photos and can’t post them all here.

After we finished up at Zuihoden, which took a while because I wanted to read every single sign that we came across, we headed over to Sendai Castle (Aoba Castle).
Again, I have too many photos to post, so I’ll just leave it to the famous statue of Date Masamune. The view from the top of the castle was quite nice and the other structures around the castle grounds were really interesting to learn about as well.

After the castle, we were running out of time, and so we decided to start making our way back to Sendai Station. We ended up getting off a few stations early because my girlfriend had read that there was an event at Nishi Park.

I can’t post all of the photos, but it was a really big cherry blossom festival with food stalls, etc.

I highly recommend visiting Sendai during spring, as it’s definitely worth the trip. Most of the places we visited were not crowded at all, and we had an awesome trip.

前回と同じく「船岡城址公園」の展望台からの眺めです。
一目千本桜と残雪の蔵王連峰のコラボが圧巻の景色でした。

残雪の蔵王連峰を背景に咲き誇る「一目千本桜」
およそ1,200本以上のソメイヨシノを中心とした桜並木は、全長約8kmもあるそうです。

東北有数の桜の名所として知られる「船岡城址公園の桜」
宮城県内で唯一「さくら名所100選」に選ばれております。
特に展望台からの眺めは素晴らしく、川沿いにびっしりと並んだ「一目千本桜」は絶景です。

弘前さくらまつり?
昨年のゴールデンウィーク、鹿児島⇆北海道ドライブ旅の途中で、青森県弘前公園のさくらまつりに行きました。まだ冠雪の残る岩木山を背景とした桜はとっても綺麗でした?
今となってはコロナ対策のマスク着用も懐かしいです?

松島湾の一角をなす利府町浜田
ここに、海に向かって伸びる「馬の背」があります。
この「馬の背」は、長い年月の波の浸食によって今の形となり、
約250メートルほど海に突き出た姿から「天然の桟橋」といわれています。

In the world of narnia. My today's recommendation is mount Zao. Its really a winter wonderland. All the trees are cover with snow. This phenomenon is observed due to the very cold Siberian wind. It was taken from the ropeway. The image is slightly hazy due to the glass of the ropeway. Truly very beautiful place

前回に続いて秋田県横手市の雄物川民家苑木戸五郎兵衛村のかまくらです。