Feasting and festivaling in Sendai around this time last year (Photo-essay)

This time last year, I was in Japan.  In the days leading up the trip, my major worry involved trying to get over the cold I was having so that I would be able to enjoy my latest sojourn in the Land of the Rising Sun: one that would take me up to its Tohoku region for the first time.  And as it so happened, because I wasn't 100 percent recovered by the time the trip began, I actually elected to wear a surgical mask while on the plane (as well as cover my neck and upper body with a shawl to keep it warm, for good measure).     
Little did I know that, one year later, the idea of being a tourist would seem so unthinkable.  Also, that the past year or so could have been so eventful that I felt obliged to stop chronicling my May 2019 Japan trip in early June and not post again about it until this past March.  Even today, ample newsworthy -- and worrisome -- things are happening in Hong Kong and around the world (along with the happy sight of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen being sworn in for her second term) that part of me feels I should be writing about more serious stuff.

At the same time though, I think we all could do with a bit of a break from the recent spate of depressing news.  And with talk of mooted "travel bubbles" (in places like Hong Kong, which saw a third consecutive day with zero new Wuhan coronavirus cases reported today), my thoughts have indeed started returning to the possibility that in the not too distant future (as in this time next year, if not earlier), I might be able to visit my favorite travel destination again to do such as dine in a third generation oden restaurant and witness centuries-old dance celebrations...

After spending the earlier part of the day in Hiraizumi,

I returned to Sendai and went strolling down its streets 

and alleys in search of another memorable meal in the city...

 It took quite an effort for me to find Oden Sankichi but, even 

from the outside, I knew I was in for something special there :b

As you can probably tell from its name, this is an  

oden specialist (like Takoume over in Osaka) :)

If anything, there was a greater choice of oden there than anywhere 

else I've been -- and the waitress had to calm me down

and restricted me to four items per order at a time! 

All in all, I ended up having 15 different items to eat -- and, 

if memory serves me right, three different sakes to drink 

at what I found to be a welcoming as atmospheric spot :)

 A staffer at Oden Sankichi I got to chatting with told me

I should make sure to not miss the Aoba Festival

which was taking place that weekend

Even though I actually left Sendai (for Tokyo) on the festival's first day, 

I did manage to check out some of the signature Suzume Odori  

(sparrow dances) enthusiastically performed on the streets :)

As I promised one of the friendly Oden Sankichi staffers I ended up

chatting quite a bit with, I hope to return to Sendai at some point -- and 

hopefully catch more of the colorful community festival the next time around