Sendai does not announce itself. The city sits two hours north of Tokyo on the Tohoku Shinkansen, and most passengers continue onward to Aomori or Hokkaido without stopping. That is their mistake. Sendai was founded in 1600 by Date Masamune, the feudal lord known as the One-Eyed Dragon after smallpox took his right eye in childhood. He chose a valley between the Hirose and Natori rivers, laid out a castle on Aoba Hill, and ordered his samurai to plant zelkova and chinquapin along the avenues. Four centuries later, those trees still define the city. Locals call it Mori no Miyako, the City of Trees, and the nickname is earned. In summer the canopy on Jozenji-dori turns the street into a green tunnel.
The castle is gone. Aoba Castle fell to Meiji-era demolition in the 1870s, and what remains are stone walls, foundations, and the view. The view is worth the climb. From the terrace you look across the entire Hirose River valley to the Ou Mountains in the west and the Pacific on the eastern horizon. A bronze statue of Date Masamune on horseback stands at the edge, his armor catching the morning light. The Date Bushotai, a troupe of performers in Edo-period costume, stage mock battles and audience interactions on weekends. Check the schedule at the castle site information board. Admission is free. The Loople Sendai sightseeing bus stops here, route number 4, fifteen minutes from Sendai Station. A one-day pass costs ¥630 and covers all the Date Masamune sites in a loop.
Downhill from the castle, the Sendai City Museum sits in Nishi Park. The building is a concrete grid from 1986, not beautiful but functional, and the collection inside is serious. The crescent-moon helmet of Date Masamune is the centerpiece, black lacquer with a gold crescent mounted on the brow. There is also armor, swords, and correspondence from the 1613 Keicho embassy to Europe, the first Japanese diplomatic mission to reach Rome. The museum charges about ¥560 for adults, discounted to roughly ¥460 with a Loople day pass. Hours are 9:00 to 16:45, last entry at 16:15. Closed December 31 and January 1.
The real architectural prize is Zuihoden, the mausoleum Date Masamune built for himself on Kyogamine Hill, two kilometers northeast of the station. He chose the site in his lifetime after hearing the first song of the cuckoo there. The building is pure Momoyama excess: black lacquer columns, gold leaf crests, vermillion bracket complexes under a copper-tiled roof. The original structure was designated a National Treasure in 1931 and burned in the July 1945 air raid. The current building was reconstructed in 1979 and repainted to match the original colors in 2001. The path up is lined with cedar trees planted to mark the Date clan's longevity. Hydrangeas bloom along the stone steps in July. Inside the compound there are three mausoleums: Zuihoden for Masamune, Kansenden for his son Tadamune, and Zen'oden for his grandson Tsunamune. A small museum displays burial accessories including armor fragments and reconstructed facial models. Admission is ¥570 for adults, ¥410 for high school students, ¥210 for children. The museum closes at 16:30 from February to November and at 16:00 in December and January. Both are closed December 31 and January 1. The Loople bus stops at the base of the hill. The walk up takes five minutes.
Osaki Hachimangu Shrine, four kilometers south of the station, is the other National Treasure in Sendai. Masamune commissioned it in 1607 and brought in the best carpenters of the Kanto region. The main hall is irimoya-zukuri style with a double roof, and the paintwork is original: vermillion pillars, green dragons, gold cloud patterns. The shrine survived the 1945 bombing and the 2011 earthquake with only minor damage. It is free to enter the grounds. The main hall interior is not open to the public, but the exterior carving and colorwork are the point. From Sendai Station, take the JR Senseki Line to Higashi-Sendai Station, then walk fifteen minutes. Or ride the Loople bus to stop number 11.
The Sendai Tanabata Festival runs from August 6 to 8 and is one of the three major tanabata celebrations in Japan. The shopping arcades between Sendai Station and Kotodai Park hang thousands of bamboo-and-paper streamers called fukinagashi, some three meters long, made by local shops and community groups. The festival follows the old lunar calendar, which is why it falls a month later than the standard July 7 tanabata. During the festival the arcades stay open until 22:00 and food stalls line the sidewalks. If you visit in early August, book accommodation at least two months ahead. The streamers go up on August 5 and come down on August 8 after a fireworks display.
Matsushima Bay, thirty minutes by train on the Senseki Line, is technically outside Sendai but functionally part of any visit. The bay contains 260 pine-covered islands and has been listed as one of Japan's three most scenic views since the Edo period. Zuigan-ji Temple on the waterfront was founded in 828 and rebuilt by Masamune in 1609. The approach is a straight avenue of cedar trees four hundred years old. The temple charges ¥700 for the main hall and gardens. Godaido Hall, a small wooden structure on a pier, is free. Boat tours of the bay run every thirty minutes from 9:00 to 16:00 and cost ¥1,500 for a fifty-minute circuit. Oyster shucking is available at the waterfront market from October through March when Miyagi oysters are in season.
Sendai's food is specific to the region. Gyutan, grilled beef tongue, was invented here in 1948 by a yakitori chef who started using American-imported beef tongues. The cut is thick, scored, grilled over charcoal, and served with barley rice and oxtail soup. A set meal at Tanya Zenjiro on the third floor of Sendai Station costs around ¥1,600 at lunch and ¥2,500 at dinner. The station has an entire corridor called Gyutan-dori, Beef Tongue Street, with six competing shops. Zunda, sweet edamame bean paste, is the other local staple. It is spread on mochi, folded into parfaits, and blended into milkshakes. Zunda Saryo, near Kotodai Park, serves zunda parfaits for about ¥650. Sasa-kamaboko, a white fish cake pressed into the shape of a bamboo leaf and grilled, sells for ¥150 at stalls around Sendai Station.
Akiu Onsen, twenty-five minutes by bus from Sendai Station, is a hot spring resort with a 1,500-year history. The water is a chloride spring, colorless and gentle on skin. Day-use entry at most ryokan baths costs ¥800 to ¥1,200. Some hotels offer private baths for ¥2,500 per forty-five minutes. The Akiu Great Falls, a fifty-five-meter cascade, is a fifteen-minute walk from the onsen town and free to view. In late October the Tensyukaku National Park holds an illumination event called Akiu Night Museum, with light installations along the river gorge. Entry costs roughly ¥500.
Sendai is compact enough to walk but hilly enough to tire you. The castle site and Zuihoden both require climbing. Wear shoes with grip. The Loople bus runs every twenty to thirty minutes and is the efficient way to connect the scattered Date Masamune sites. A single ride costs ¥260. The one-day pass pays for itself in three rides. English signage is present at all major sites but limited at restaurants. Most gyutan shops have picture menus.
The city is still recovering from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The coast thirty kilometers east was devastated. In Sendai proper, the damage was structural rather than catastrophic, and reconstruction is complete. A memorial center in Arahama, on the coastal plain, documents the event with photographs, recovered objects, and survivor testimony. Entry is free. It is forty minutes by bus from Sendai Station. The coastal plain is flat and exposed. If you visit, you will understand why the wave traveled so far inland.
If you have two days, spend the first on the Date Masamune circuit and the second on Matsushima and Akiu Onsen. If you have one day, do the castle, Zuihoden, and Gyutan-dori. The Shinkansen from Tokyo reaches Sendai in ninety minutes. The JR East Pass for the Tohoku region covers the trip and local JR lines for five flexible days at about ¥30,000 for foreign passport holders. Purchase before arrival through the JR East website.
By Yuki Tanaka
Architectural photographer based in Tokyo. Yuki captures the dialogue between ancient structures and modern design across Asia and Europe. Her work has been featured in Monocle, Dezeen, and Wallpaper. She sees buildings as frozen stories waiting to be told.