Ishinomaki Day 4

For my fourth day, we took a break from the relief work.  I was on a trip to Yamagata within my trip to Ishinomaki within my trip to Japan.  I felt like I was in the movie Inception.  It was really nice to relax and see northern Japan outside of the disaster zone.  Of course, the effects of the earthquake could still be seen.  Yamagata is usually a bustling city full of people, but when I was there it was practically empty.

 The main bit of sightseeing that we did was at the nearby Kaminoyama Castle.  Actually, the real castle was torn down a long time ago, and the one we visited was a reconstruction with a museum on the inside.  This isn't that surprising: there aren't that many true castles left in Japan (I hope to visit one of them when I go to the Kansai region later this month).  Still, I really liked it.  For some reason, I love the architecture of older Japanese buildings like castles, temples, and shrines.

 There was a bonsai festival going on that day

The tour was really fun!  We got to see a lot of historical artifacts from the area and learned some about how the castle fit into Japan's history.  By the end, we were well-rested and ready to head back to the Samaritan's Purse base.