Matsushima Bay cruise and Zuigan-ji

Matsushima Bay, a short ride north-east of Sendai, is scattered with some 260 small islands, each worn by the waves into its own shape and topped with pines. In the 17th century a scholar listed it with Amanohashidate and Miyajima as the three finest views in Japan, and the poet Basho came through in 1689 on the journey he wrote up as The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The scenery is the reason to come: rock, pine and calm water, close enough to touch from the deck.

The shortest option is simply the 60-minute cruise, a loop that slips between islets near enough to see the layered rock. The 5-hour plan from Sendai, run as a group or privately, adds time ashore at Zuigan-ji, the Zen temple rebuilt by the warlord Date Masamune in the early 1600s, with admission covered. Its approach passes caves cut into the cliff face, used over the centuries for memorial tablets and meditation. How the boat and the temple fit together on the day is something the guide confirms.

Gulls trail the boats much of the year, and the islands change with the seasons: snow on the pines in winter, soft hazy blues in summer, maples along the shore in autumn. Winter is also oyster season on this coast. Zuigan-ji's main hall is a National Treasure with richly painted sliding doors, and the shaded cave walk stays cool on hot days. Godaido, a tiny hall on an islet joined to land by short bridges, sits a few minutes' walk from the pier.