Another rainy day with a visit to Zuhio-den, Date Masamune’s mausoleum, the feudal lord who founded the city and died in 1603. Masamune was pretty ruthless and, for the Star Wars fans in the crowd, George Lucas used him and his life story as inspiration for Darth Vader. We also visited Masamune’s castle site ruins (the castle walls have been restored but over the years earthquakes, fires and the bombing of the town in WWII means that just the outlines of the buildings remain.)
We then had a stop at an art museum (the primary museum in town was closed for renovation) with a great sculpture garden and works by Yuriko Yamawaki, recently deceased, who did the illustrations for a very popular series of children’s books called Guri and Gura. The books have sold 25 million copies and been translated into several languages. They were quite charming.
As soon as I got off the gangplank, I whipped out my phone to take a picture of the greeting committee. The Masamune double (in real life, Masamune lost an eye to disease) came forward with his compatriots and one of them made it clear that they wanted to take a picture of me with them. How could I say no?
Sure enough, open and closed mouths on the pair outside this complex.
A shot of the trek back down. Although it doesn’t look like a staircase, it is. This tiny elderly Japanese woman was taking her time. Note the asphalt strips on both sides – much less slippery.
