Sendai and Matsushima

At the end of May we ventured south along the coast to the city of Sendai, a metropolitan area of about 1 million people. The first night we got there we ate at a sushi restaurant and tried the specialty of the area, gyu-tan (cow tongue...don't worry, it was cooked).
We spent the rest of that night and the next morning walking around the city. They were about to have a big parade, so there were a lot of neat floats, drums, and traditional costumes. If you follow the following link, it will play a traditional drum ensemble in action(http://www.youtube.com/v/Ljc0e5HO4XM). As you can see in the pics, some of them were nice enough to pose for us.
The main reason we came to Sendai, however, was to view a professional baseball game. Baseball in Japan is just a little different than the States. First, the whole field (minus the mound and right around the bases) is AstroTurf. Next, in the States the seats behind home plate are the highly sought after ones...not the case in Japan...the most loyal and rowdy fans congregate in the outfield seats (left field for home, right field for visitors).

The fans in these corners have a chant or song for every batter in their line-up. This link will take you to a video I took of one such chant (http://www.youtube.com/v/UuSrLM399gg). At the end of the video, you will here whistles being blown...no, those aren't the umps, they are special whistle blowers in the stands (see pic above). Anytime a foul ball is hit in your vicinity, it is up to these upstanding citizens to warn you of their approach.
Another interesting ritual occurs in the seventh inning. Before the stretch, most of the fans in the stands blow up these elongated balloons that end up being about 6 feet long. When the last out is made in the seventh inning, everyone releases their balloons and they fly 30-100 feet in the air!
Unfortunately, a home run was hit by an opposing team player, so many fans let theirs go prematurely...including Amy (fair weather fan!). Speaking of fair weather, after the final out we got poured on.

The next morning we took the train out to Matsushima. We then took a ferry ride through the bay to witness these stony outcroppings throughout the water. It is said that this collection of islets is one of the three most beautiful sites in Japan...I strongly disagree, but to each their own.
It was nice, though, and the town was charming. Our camera ran out of battery, so I don't have any pictures of that...DOH!