Matsushima
A bay in Miyagi dotted with some 260 small islands covered in pine trees, which give it its name: pine islands. It is one of the Three Views of Japan, seen from sightseeing boats or from the hills around the bay.
- Where
- Miyagi, Japan
- Grade
- Local gem
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site
- Coordinates
- 38.3556, 141.0764
Get the Matsushima stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Matsushima. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Miyagi volume with your photos and a note.
Near Matsushima
Yamadera 56 km
The popular name of Risshaku-ji, a temple whose halls cling to steep, forested rock northeast of Yamagata. A climb of around a thousand stone steps leads to the viewpoints, and the poet Basho wrote his haiku of cicadas and stillness here.
Chuson-ji 72 km
The head Tendai temple of the Tohoku region, set on a wooded hill in Hiraizumi. Its Konjikido, a small hall covered inside and out in gold leaf, holds the remains of the Fujiwara lords who ruled the north from here, and it is part of a World Heritage Site.
Nikkō Tōshō-gū 220 km
The shrine where Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, is enshrined, set among tall cedars in Nikkō. Its buildings are lavishly carved, painted and gilded, from the Yōmeimon gate to the famous panel of the three wise monkeys.
Futarasan Shrine 220 km
A Shinto shrine in Nikkō, beside Tōshō-gū, dedicated to the gods of the sacred mountains around the town. Both it and a shrine in Utsunomiya claim to be the ichinomiya, the first shrine, of old Shimotsuke Province.
Rinnō-ji 220 km
A Tendai Buddhist temple in Nikkō, the most important temple among the town's shrines and temples. Its main hall, the Sanbutsudō, holds three large gilded statues of Buddhist deities.
Kegon Falls 227 km
A waterfall of about 97 metres where Lake Chūzenji spills into the Daiya River, in Nikkō National Park. It formed when lava flows rerouted the river, and about twelve smaller falls seep from cracks in the rock around it.
Lake Chūzenji 229 km
A lake high in Nikkō National Park, formed some 20,000 years ago when an eruption of Mount Nantai blocked a river. Its shores are lined with maples that turn red in autumn, and foreign embassies once kept summer villas along it.
Hirosaki Castle 256 km
A castle built in 1611 as the seat of the Tsugaru clan, in the centre of Hirosaki. Its park of moats and thousands of cherry trees is one of the most celebrated places in Japan for spring blossom, and the small original keep still stands.
Questions
Where is Matsushima?
Matsushima is in Miyagi, Japan. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Yamadera (56 km), Chuson-ji (72 km), Nikkō Tōshō-gū (220 km).
How do I get the Matsushima stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Matsushima and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Miyagi volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Matsushima before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Miyagi volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.