We appreciated a later start after farewelling our hosts, but were even more pleased to see blue sky and the sun out again after yesterday’s all-day rain. Stopbank trails to start took us out of town and then across a wide valley with a shinkansen viaduct in the distance. Plenty more flood protection work ongoing.

Thirty kilometres of rural riding was pleasant before we hit the suburbs of and then skirted Sendai, a city of a million, as best we could.

Into the suburbs…

From a distance, understandably, we spotted a prominent white statue. Our route down a busy arterial road took us right past it – a giant buddha, one of the largest statues in the world at over a hundred metres tall.

Midday by now, our search for lunch inadvertently took us into a large pachinko. We didn’t find food in here, but interesting and depressing to finally see inside one of the many machine gambling parlours.

Amusingly lunch was in another of the family restaurants of the same chain as we ate in last night. At least we knew the drill with limitless free tea and the menu. Out of the city we were quickly onto small rural roads, climbing slightly.

One road to keep us off a highway was closed to cars in part, but thankfully we got through gates and so forth without having to back track around this lake.

I finally saw a live Japanese racoon dog, tanuki, run across the road – they look quite different to how the popular folklore figure is portrayed on many small statues (think garden gnome sized, but far less disturbing). Saw one on a stormwater cover too.

I was impressed first by this rural house, but then more so by the topiary and the obvious effort involved.

Town signs returned for a bit (not nearly as many in Honshu as Hokkaido) as we found a busier road between Kawazaki and Zao.

Stocking up with fresh veges at a large roadside produce shop, just a short climb to an onsen town and a camp ground where at least there was at least some other people camping – a Japanese family.