Van life Japan, Cat island

Greetings everyone,

We find ourselves in a city town called Sendai, camped out in another 24 hour carpark for 3 nights. We were tempted to book a hotel but found for us they were expensive for what you got.

Fresh food markets are something we both throughly enjoy and gives us a chance to try local produce and support local farmers. There’s always something tasty we find and also gives us the chance to hopefully do a cheaper weekly food shop. The potato croquettes were super delicious crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Fruit we are finding to be so expensive in Japan but we found these peaches at decent price and it was amazing!

Mishinoeki are roadside rest stop for people travelling on the road, apparently you’re not meant to stay overnight at these places but many people do.

It’s also a great place to try local specialties and find a bunch of fun random treats to try. Not all stops have onsens or showers, but when they do they’re very well priced. These places also always have some sort of restaurant available but be warned they close early! Ask how we know?!

Google translate is an absolute life saver for us, helps us communicate, read signs and be more informed.

Something island, what Serena called was kitty island. We had heard about this place from instagram and on YouTube, with high hopes we set sail. While it was great to see cats roaming about not being locked up, it did come with a sad side.

The cats health conditions were not good, some just looked so sick and needed to be seen by a vet. This really was a moment that felt like, Instagram Vs reality. From what we could gather returning to the mainland, there was a tsunami and things just haven’t recovered since then.

Would we recommend going, not at the moment. Does it have potential to be a great island, absolutely! With a lot of work and care to the place it could be such a great destination. BEWARE of mosquitoes, they were everywhere!

Thanks for watching, if you have any questions or comments please let us know!