I went to Miyagi prefecture (Tohoku district, North of Japan) few days ago for travelling around the district. Miyagi is famous for good seafood so lots of tourists go there to have it. Especially, oyster is one of the best specialties of Miyagi.

　　　　

But as you may know, 3 years ago, Tohoku was hit by huge earthquake also the massive Tsunami completely destroyed the several cities and towns.  Miyagi was one of them and it was unspeakably awful. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw how the city was collapsed on TV.

Needless to say, their specialties were damaged too, so the people worked for it were absolutely devastated. Of course, oyster industry was got terrible damage so everyone felt hopeless. But it wasn’t end of the story. The Savior came from France and they helped for revival of oyster industry in Miyagi. Then they finely got back their specialty.

Apparently, in 1970 and 1990, Brittany oyster industry was destroyed by a virus. At that time the industry in Miyagi had sent larvae of oyster to France and they regained their oyster. So this time Brittany returns a favour for what Miyagi did in the past. So we can still enjoy good oysters because of the lovely story between France and Japan.

What a great story, we appreciate you France! Merci beaucoup!

So this time I am going to talk about good place to visit today!

1. Meguro Tanku Garden – 目黒天空庭園 Meguro Ikejiri-Ohashi Station

This big roofed garden is located on Ohasi Junction (大橋ジャンクション) which is a system interchange between Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Route 3 and Central Circular Route C2. The garden covers approximately 7,000 square meters and it has 1,000 trees and shrubs. As I mentioned there is a motorway below but the garden is pretty quiet so you can get relaxed and enjoy the view from the garden.

2. Traditional Japanese boat tour – 和船乗船体験　Yoko Zikken-Gawa Shinsui Park (横十間川親水公園) Toyo-cho Station

You can get on a boat which is Edo era styled Japanese boat.  Yoko Zikken-Gawa Shinsui Park (横十間川親水公園) has a waterway and the boat goes on it for about 20 min. Also you can row the boat, if you want to. You can get on the boat for free, but you should check the schedule for the tour so if you are into it, visit http://www.city.koto.lg.jp/seikatsu/douro/7476/7477.html and check it out.

3. Korin-in Zazen lesson – 香林院座禅体験 Hiro-o Station

You can learn how to Zazen at Korin-in. Zazen is a sort of religious practice for mental concentration. Basically, this training is for renouncing worldly desires. You sit on a cushion and clear out desires from your mind. Nowadays the practice is getting popular for young people so you can find some temples which you can Zazen at. And lots of temples hold lessons for free. if you want to try it, google Zazen lesson or something and find good one!