My Favorite Little Beach: Matsushima

    I'm sure I have mentioned this beach before. The small inlet of beach in Matsushima, a short walk from Matsushima Kaigan station on the Senseki Line is one of my very favorite beaches in Japan.

    Mostly this is because it's one of the easiest ones to get to from where I live. It's not a beach where swimming or camping is allowed, but the sand is nice and there are no biting bugs in the sand, which isn't the case in some other more entertaining (but also painful and difficult to get to) beaches I have been to in this prefecture.

    For me, it was more about being near the water. You can still look for seashells and shiny rocks. You can still look out at the ocean and get some great pictures. There is a little island nearby and a gorgeous red bridge connecting it to the mainland. It is free to use and easy to get to, so on a little trip to this beach, you can walk across the little bridge to the tiny island and look around the ancient statuary and small buildings there.

    When the Matsushima Park Music Festival is going, you can even hear music played live right here on this beach. The last time we came before the pandemic, they even had a little stage on the island, too.

    All in all it's I'm pretty neat place to have access to but the main point for me ages ago was that you could get there by train without too much trouble.

    Taking a train to the beach didn't used to be a big deal in Miyagi because back in 2010, I could easily take the train at all the way out to Noburi Beach, a proper swimming beach further north along the coast. The station was a short, direct walk from the coast then, but it should surprise no one that all of that changed in 2011. Now, the beach is back but the train lines were rebuilt further inland, so my train-to-beach access no longer exists there.

    Back in April, my husband asked if I wanted to be driven somewhere on his day off and I asked him to take me to a beach. He asked if I had a specific beach in mind and I told him I didn't but I fully expected him to pick some random, out of the way place I had never heard of.

    I was absolutely shocked to look up from my phone to find us at parking at the little lot in Matsushima, overlooking that little stretch of beach that I've always found so comforting. 

    I've been to this place so many times and while I wish there were more things to do there, I also feel like it's nice to have a space where you're not walking over the possessions of dozens of beachgoers. There is something great about a place where you can't plan a full day of activities and can only really relax and enjoy the view.