Tohoku Region Presentation

Here are some of my notes for the Tohoku Region Presentation. Please enjoy!

Shogi: a Japanese chess-like game dating back to the 6th Cenutry. Possibly derived from a similar game in India called Chaturanga.

• similar to western style chess
• two types: Chu-shogi (mid-sized) and Dai-shogi (large-sized)
• Not usually found outside of Japan because of the use of Japanese characters on each piece.
• pieces have changed shape and size over the centuries from 3 sided pieces to 3D representations similar to western chess.
• the game is held in tradition by "iemotos" or families that uphold the tradition of playing shogi expertly

This games seems to have developed primarily in the Tohoku Region historically and has sinced branched out into the whole of Japan and other parts of the world.

Sendai City: The City of Trees: center of the Tohoku Region's economy, focused mainly on retail and other services, employing more than two-thirds of the region's population.
Headquarters of the Tohoku Electric Power Co. that is this region's major supplier of electricity.

• Date Masamune, revered samurai ordered the construction of Sendai and the Sendai Castle in 1600.
• The ruins of Sendai Castle, in Aobayama that used to house a temple with one thousand buddah statues.
• Japanese Zelkova is the official "city tree"
• Symbol of Sendai

Sendai Tanabata Festival: tanabata means "seven evenings". This festival is one of the Japanese Star Festivals held on July 7th. This festival celebrates the meeting of the two constellations Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair) and the obstacle between them, a river of stars we all know as The Milky Way.