Tohoku Photo Gallery - Yamadera

Just an hour by train from Sendai, Yamadera's hillsides are home to a Tendai Buddhist temple that dates back to the 9th century.

From the train station, look up. See the buildings near the top? That's where we are going today.

Crossing the river that divides the town, the daunting task of climbing 1000 steps hasn't sunk in yet.

Parts of the climb had cherry blossoms at full bloom, but otherwise, the hillsides are nicely shaded by greener vegetation.

The climb was manageable in the cool shade, and wasn't too intense. There were places to stop to admire the scenery along the way.

The ultimate prize is a hut overlooking the valley, where I originally came from. The views were worth the climb. The paths beyond this spot are blocked so this is as far as I could go.

Backtracking slight,y I find more buildings built further into the mountains.

Mission accomplished, and the downhill journey seemed much easier.

At the lower elevations, various colours of cherry blossoms were at the latter stages of bloom.

This town is actually not a sakura viewing hotspot, although there are a few trees here and there beautifully at bloom, such as this one next to the train station.

The train station is small and the manned ticket counter closes well before dinner time. The waiting area is quite quaint and spectacularly clean.

Easily connected to Sendai and with a fairly short travel time, Yamadera is worth a half day outing. I was a bit ambitious this day and even covered Matsushima in the other direction.

Tohoku Gallery Main Page