Locations: Miyagi

Miyagi : Tokyo : Osaka : Hiroshima

Our city, Shiogama, in Miyagi prefecture, is the oldest city in the Tohoku or northeastern region of Japan. Even older than the famous old capital of Kyoto, Shiogama has been both protected by and prospered from the sea and its Shinto shrines. We are proud to introduce you to the lives of people who live by the sea, the traditions of Japanese Shinto, our old-style shopping districts, and the atmosphere of daily life that is special to this city.

The activities of our photography club center around recording the lives of the people of our local area using digital cameras and computers. The photos we have compiled over the past two years fill about 50 CD-ROMs. It’s a great encouragement to learn how happy it makes people when we give them CD-ROMs of the photos we have taken of them.

So please come and visit Shiogama!

top: Shiogama High School is a boy’s school. For the school festival we made a special display of Gundam models with cardboard.
bottom left: Going out to photograph in the outlying islands, we take the boat that links the islands.
bottom right: The photography club exhibits its photographs each year in a department store in Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region. (Click to enlarge the photograph.)

Scenic islands The beautiful islands here are known as one of the three greatest sights of Japan. People have been living on these islands for 12,000 years.	The Uratomaru Boats operated by city run regularly, linking the islands to the mainland.	An elementary school on one of the islands. This school has a total of 17 students. There are five students in the first and second grades together.	Goodbye to a teacher Seeing off a teacher who has been transferred to another school. The students are sorry to say goodbye to a kind teacher.

Oyster beds The leading industry of the islands is nori (seaweed) and oyster farming. The high school students who live on the islands help out with the family work.	The island post The island postman makes the rounds of the four islands of the Urato group, taking the regular boat.	The policeman Three years ago the only police box on the islands was closed. Today a policeman from the city of Shiogama makes the rounds.	The shopping district 1 In the historical area of Shiogama, the shopping district preserves the townscape of olden times.

The shopping district 2 A geta clog shop. These days, you seldom encounter Japanese people wearing geta.	The shopping district 3 A futon shop. Japanese bedding is made with cotton padding. It’s rare these days to find a shop that makes futon on the premises.	Shrine 1 The portable shrine is a Kyo-mikoshi or Kyoto-style mikoshi. This sight is a reminder of the close ties between Kyoto and Shiogama.	Shrine 2 Shiogama Shrine has three festivals each year. In this procession bearing the mikoshi shrine up the long flight of steps leading to the shrine, you can feel a sense of the sanctity of the occasion.

The wholesale market 1 This is the largest wholesale market in the Tohoku region. This is where local fishmongers and sushi chefs come to shop.	The wholesale market 2 The market opens at 3:00 a.m., it’s at its busiest just before 6:00 a.m.	The wholesale market 3 The women of the fish market are full of energy and smiles.