Tarto in Japan

After leaving Sendai, I kept heading north, with another stop for Hiraizumi. I stopped at Naruko onsen though, because I needed to relax, especially considering I was still sick. Nice surprise at the station:

You don't see it? As the name suggests, in Naruko onsen there are...onsen! And at the right, just behind the bench, there's a small pool which contains natural hot spring water and is used as a foot bath:

Nice, isn't it?! Also, I met three nice Japanese girls who were using the same "facilities". Of course, I didn't go to Naruko onsen only for its station and its foot bath, I also went to one the numerous nearby baths. And I ended up at another really tiny one, barely larger that the one near Sendai.

I arrived at Hiraizumi in late afternoon and found a quiet and welcoming ryokan to stay for the night. And this time I actually chilled out, indeed Hiraizumi is definitely in the countryside and there's absolutely nothing to do there at night...Oh, something funny, I came across this board for regional elections:

When I saw the pic of the candidate at the upper right, I thought it was a joke but no! I then saw the same guy on tv:

At the bottom, written in katakana: "The great Sasuke"! I love it!!!