From the Pier to the Temples
After the bay cruise, we crossed the road from the pier with a gyutan skewer in hand and walked up towards Zuiganji, Matsushima’s big Zen temple, built by Date Masamune (the one-eyed dragon of Sendai).
The approach to Zuiganji is a long avenue of tall cedars. Along one side, the cliff is full of caves carved out by monks centuries ago, for meditation and memorials, with little statues and stone tablets still inside.
Entsuin
Right next to Zuiganji is Entsuin, a smaller temple built in 1647 as the mausoleum of Date Mitsumune, Masamune’s grandson, who died at 19. It’s way quieter than Zuiganji, which is exactly why we liked it.
Just inside the gate is the rock garden. The moss patches and rocks in the raked gravel are meant to be the islands of Matsushima Bay, which is kinda cool after spending the morning sailing around the real ones.
There’s a red umbrella and a red bench set up for photos, so of course.
Further in, there’s a small bamboo grove, and the garden paths wind past ponds and trees wrapped up for winter (the cone-shaped rope wraps, yukitsuri, that stop snow from breaking the branches).
The famous bit of Entsuin is the Sankeiden, Mitsumune’s mausoleum, with Western roses painted inside, which is super unusual for the time. It’s also known for its rose garden, but in January there’s nothing blooming, so come in spring or summer for that.
By then it was past 1pm, and we were hungry again. Back down the road for grill-your-own kamaboko!
Information About Entsuin
Five minutes from the pier and somehow ten times quieter. The rock garden is the bay in miniature: we'd just sailed around the real thing.