Yamadera Temple and Matsushima in same day

Greetings! Just wondering if after an overnight stay in Sendai would it be possible to do Yamadera Temple (2 hours or so) in the morning and then Matsushima (around 2 hours as well), and then return to Tokyo (more specifically Yokohama) in the same day? Or would that be too rushed/impractical?

At Matsushima we probably would just look at the islands from the harborfront, and not take a cruise. Any good vantage points close to the train station to do so?

Thanks in advance!

Personally, the boat trip from Hon Shiogama to Matsushima is very worthwhile: just going by train and standing on the waterfront is hardly worth the effort.
Matsushima also has a wonderful cave temple, and now the bridge is repaired you can walk over to one of the islands.
I admire you being able to get to Yamadera, and climb 1200 steps in 2 hours....
However, if you research the train timetables and feel you can do it then all power to you!!
Enjoy!

Normally - it takes around 45 minutes to climb Yamadera if there is no snow and it's not too busy from the bottom. That does not really give much time to view things.

However - the trains are not that frequent (from memory) so it would be quite hard to do both in the same day. It's possible - but it would be a VERY long day with a lot of travel.

Just to give you an idea, the following would give you ample of time to explore Yamadera (maybe even too much if you like a fast travel pace), but time in Matsushima will be rather limited:

07:07 depart Sendai
08:13 Yamadera
see Yamadera
11:09 depart Yamadera (eat a non-smelly lunch on board of the train)
12:09 arrive Sendai
12:21 depart Sendai
13:00 arrive Matsushima Kaigan
see Matsushima
15:00 depart Matsushima by boatto Shiogama
16:25 depart Hon-Shiogama
16:53 arrive Sendai
17:09 depart Sendai
18:52 arrive Tokyo