The word "Matsushima" means "Pine Islands". So it called located in Miyagi Prefecture, a group of small islands covered with pine trees. In total there are about 260 islands. They are in the Gulf, also called Matsushima, which crashed into the shore of the island of Honshu at 14 kilometers. Matsushima is recognized as one of the three most famous landscapes of Japan, along with sand bar amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture and the island of Miyajima in Hiroshima.

View these islands so beautiful that, as they say, he deprived of speech, even the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho haiku master, who is credited with the following tercet: "Matsushima, ah! Ah, Matsushima, ah! Matsushima, ah! "

In 2011, when many towns in Japan hit by a huge tsunami, a small village Matsushima, thanks to the "cover-up" of these islands has not been washed away into the ocean. Among the islands of Matsushima there are quite tiny, and there are those on which there are small settlements. Their inhabitants commute to their homes via the ferry. And here offer tourists a boat ride on the boat - in particular, the islands and Miyatodzima Kinkadzan, which has long been considered sacred. At its center is the volcano a height of about 450 meters, and on its slopes inhabited by deer and monkeys.

A general view of a group of islands reminiscent of the classic image of a Japanese garden with a pond. On Matsushima developed tourist route "Four great species" and there are four places to contemplate the surrounding beauty under the names of "juice", "reykan", "yukan" and "ikan". The beauty of nature at Matsushima supplemented by several elegant buildings in the traditional style: temples, pavilions, teahouses. For example, the tea house Kanrantey was moved to Matsushima as a gift to the ruler of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, made by the local feudal lords, the founder of Sendai Date Masamune.