Lapras Stamp Rally 2020-2021

    Back in 2019 in the last winter before the coronavirus really took off, my daughter and I participated in Pokemon stamp rally celebrating lesser-known places in Miyagi prefecture where we live. We had a lot of fun chasing down the stamps and actually managed to win one of the price packs which arrived in early pandemic times while she was stuck at home. It was a delight.

    When I saw the banners saying that they were at it again, I excitedly took one stamp collection sheet for my daughter and one for myself. I went ahead and got the first stamp for Shiogama right there in the shop next to Honshiogama Station. In the following weeks, I acquired the stamp for Tagajo as well, since it was right across from the station, near the library where I was teaching at the time.

    Unfortunately, those were all the stamp rally locations I felt safe going to at the time, so I set the cards to the side for a little while, only to one day find my husband pouring over them, searching the specific locations of every interesting looking stop. I never thought he would be interested in these as usually he like to take longer trips and stay somewhere overnight, but in light of the pandemic, he thought little Miyagi towns sounded like a fun option. I went to get his stamp card the next day and that weekend, we headed out to Kesennuma, a town I had never visited before that was utterly devastated by the events of 2011.

    We went in January of 2021 and had a marvelous adventure wandering the town where we saw very few people. It almost felt like pre-pandemic times, when outings like this were exactly what I loved about living in Tohoku.

    Our next stop after city with the shark museum involved a little bit of a side road that we took so we could check out a collection of shops all grouped together to try to sell regional goods in one prime location in Minamisanriku. Unfortunately, we showed up a little late in the day so many of the shops were closed or closing, but we still got to see the manhole cover and get the stamp.

    After that little January trip, we took a couple weeks off. As none of us were feeling ill more than 2 weeks later, we went out again, this time to the southwest, where we got our stamp at a regional central shopping area by the dam, enjoyed an ice cream there, and then went to lunch nearby just as it started to rain.

    As the rain wiped out our walking tour plans, we headed to Shiroishi, the only town in the prefecture with a standing castle. There, we shopped at the castle museum, got another stamp, saw another great Lapras manhole cover, and raced inside before the rain could fully catch up.

    On the first floor, there were recreations of samurai armor and even a place to try them on for a few thousand yen. We sent upstairs instead and on the second floor, we saw the rain coming down with a bit of a fury. Happily, we watched from inside and went up the last flight of stairs to the third and final floor.

    As we meandered over to the doors that opened onto a wrap-around balcony walkway, we saw that not only had the rain stopped but a rainbow was visible over the town. It is the only time I have seen a rainbow from a castle.

    The Miyagi Lapras Stamp Rally for this winter is still going on for the next 3 weeks. If you’re in the prefecture and looking for something fun to do on those national holidays or weekends, going to less populated areas to collect Pokemon stamps for prizes can be a fun, family friendly solution.