On our way back from Hokkaido to Nagoya, we got off the bullet train at Ichinoseki (一ノ関市) to spent a few hours in Hiraizumi (平泉町), those golden age was in the 12th century.  Hiraizumi is in the Tohoku region, that got hit by the great quake a few weeks after our visit.  Hiraizumi is inland and did not encounter any tsunami damage but did have damage from the quake itself.

In Hiraizumi, we visited Chūson-ji (中尊寺).  Its most famous for the Golden Hall (Konjiki-dō, 金色堂), a building entirely covered in gold leaf.  It currently housed in a concrete building and no photographs are allowed.  You can view its picture on the Chuson-ji site.  Chuson-ji has reopened for viewing after the quake.

Update – Hiraizumi was just designated as a Unesco World Heritage site.

We re-boarded the bullet train to Tokyo and then to Nagoya.  Large portions of the bullet train line that we took back to Tokyo is still out of service due to damage from the quake.

Arriving Nagoya at night.