While living in Ofunato City, I had the chance to take traditional Japanese dance (Nihon Buyo) lessons from a professional dancer, for about half a year. Personally, performance arts tend to be out of my comfort zone, and I had no experience with dance or performance when I was in my home country, the U.S. However, I decided that living abroad would be a good chance to try something new, and I began taking private Nihon Buyo lessons after moving to Ofunato.

If you live in Japan, you are probably familiar with the term "antenna shop." Most often found in Tokyo, antenna shops are small prefecture-themed complexes consisting of shops, restaurants, and information centers. A Miyagi-themed antenna shop called Miyagi Furusato Plaza is located right by busy Ikebukuro Station.

Right now, the mountains are full of the leaves all starting to turn fall colors, but once you start to see the autumn leaves in the city, the mountains will already have seen their first dusting of snow.