Matsushima Bay

After we left Ishinomaki we stayed the night in Matsushima Bay at the Japanese equivilent of a bed & breakfast.  It was very nice and we had a traditional breakfast of miso soup, fish, rice, pickles and green tea.  Yum!  Matsushima Bay was also affected by the typhoon but not as severely as many other towns.  From what Alex and I saw, the bay bore the brunt of the storm and protected the town itself.  Here are a few pictures of that area.

This was our room.  They served us green tea when shown to our room.  No furniture to sit on, just the floor.  The T.V. was 100 yen just to turn it on!  Needless to say, we didn't watch T.V. Alex was making phone calls to arrange to meet a daycare provider that evening to give her hats for the families in her area near Kessenuma.  Notice the only mirror in the room on the 6 inch box on the floor!

When we returned to the room the table had been moved and our futons set up for the night.  My 22 year old son insisted we move them to opposite sides of the room because he was NOT going to sleep that close to his mom.  That would be too "weird" you know!  :-)  They were actually very comfortable and cozy.

This was the bay area where all the bricks had been washed away from this sidewalk by the tsunami.

A boat, tossed onshore by the wave.

This was an undamaged mosaic on the sidewalk.  Notice the bricks to the left are washed away.



There was supposed to be a footbridge out to this island but it was destroyed and found inland after the tsunami.

 I did want to get more pictures of Matsushima Bay because there was much more damage, but it got dark very quickly.  We planned to go back to the bay area the next morning but woke to fog and rain.

I have been asked if I am still collecting items for Japan.  As much as I would love to continue, I simply can't afford to keep sending boxes there.  Alex has also exhausted his savings mailing boxes around Japan to areas we couldn't drive to.  If I find an outlet that will accept items directly from crafters I'll be sure to post the address for anyone who would like to continue to send items.  I know anything that can be sent would be appreciated.

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of Kamaishi.

Blessings,

Betsy