Sendai

Sendai (仙台) is the largest city, with around 1 million people, in the Tohoku region of Japan's Honshu island and the capital of Miyagi prefecture. As everyone here will tell you, "Sendai is not too big and not too small, it's very convenient and it's close to both the sea and the mountains."

Sakunami hot springs area of the city has a separate article.

Understand
Sendai is divided into five districts: Aoba-ku (青葉区), Izumi-ku (泉区), Miyagino-ku (宮城野区), Taihaku-ku (太白区) and Wakabayashi-ku (若林区).

Sendai is a comfortable and pleasant city &mdash; it's a nice place to live. It's very green &mdash; in fact they call it 杜の都 (Mori no Miyako, "The City of Trees"). The main avenues around the city are wide and tree-lined, giving the city an almost European feel. The main shopping street, Chūō-dōri (中央通り), is pedestrian and covered, so it feels like a mall. Several large universities are located in Sendai, attracting young adults from throughout the Tohoku area. In general, the city enjoys a high standard of education, and this is reflected in the quality of English spoken on this street, which is far higher than in other cities in the region.

History
Although there is evidence of settlements in the Sendai region dating back over 20,000 years, it was not until the local feudal ruler, Date Masamune, moved his capital here in 1600 that the city began to take on any significance. He established a fine castle on Aobayama (green leaf mountain) and the town that was built below the castle near the Hirose River was built according to the traditional street grid pattern. The original name of the area was also Sendai, but the Chinese characters at the time were different (千代). They used to refer to a temple on Aobayama that housed a thousand Buddha statues. Later, Date Masamune changed the Chinese characters to mean 'hermit on a platform,' (仙台) which referred to a mythical palace in the mountains in China. It is this latter name that is used by the present-day city.

Climate
There are two ways of looking at the weather here. One is the way most Japanese people seem to look at it: it's not too cold in the winter and not too hot in the summer, compared to other Japanese cities to the south. Others find it chilly year round.

Winter temperatures rarely dip below zero Celsius, and snow, though frequent in winter, melts quickly. Winter weather is very rainy, yielding to variable weather in spring. There is a long rainy season, marked by consistently cool and cloudy weather, which typically coincides with the month of June, but has been known to set in right after the cherry-blossom blooms in April and to continue through July, and even August.

When (and if) the rainy season ends, summer weather is warm and humid, (average high in August is 28 °C (82 °F) until September, which brings typhoon season. Most of the typhoons do little damage, having dissipated somewhat on their travel north, but fall on Sendai as very heavy rainstorms, following one another in close succession.

For those who prefer dry sunny weather, autumn is the most reliable time for pleasant conditions in Sendai. In October, the weather becomes clear, dry and sunny, though cool, usually throughout the month and sometimes well into November. Daytime temperatures hover around 18 °C, with cooler nights. Rice harvesting is done at this time, while the fields found just outside the city are golden.

Tourist information site

 * Discover Sendai is the city's official English tourist site.


 * Sendai Tourism, Convention and International Association helps foreign tourists in various ways.

Get in
Sendai is 360 km (220 miles) from Tokyo, so it is often viewed as out of the way and difficult to access. However, it is a 90-minute shinkansen (bullet train) ride, or one hour flight then less than a 30-minute transfer to the city center. In fact, Sendai is 100 km closer to Tokyo than the very popular Kyoto, and boasts its own unique history, plenty of temples and shrines, and is far less crowded with tourists (with Sendai almost exclusively marketed to domestic and intra-Asian tourism).

By plane
Sendai Airport (SDJ) mainly functions as a domestic airport with regular flights from Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Kanazawa(komatsu). However, there are also a few international flights from neighboring countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan and China.

The airport is linked to the city with the Sendai Airport Access railway, which takes 17–25 minutes from JR Sendai Station and costs ¥650.

JR East also maintains an airport limousine bus between JR Sendai Expressway station (East Exit Stop 71, West Exit Stop 63-1) and Sendai Airport No.2 bus stop. From JR Sendai Station East Exit (add 10 minutes for West Exit), it operates at 10:20am, 1:20pm and 4:20pm on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, taking about 47 minutes and costs ¥800 (¥8400 for children). It is primarily aimed at travelers carrying significant amounts of luggage. From Sendai Airport, the airport limousine bus operates at 9:05am, 11:45am, 3:25pm, and 6pm, on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, taking about 45 minutes to Sendai Station West Exist and costs ¥1000 (¥500 for children). Additionally, the bus departing from Sendai airport makes a stop at the Sendai Prefecture Office City Hall, whereas the inverse is not true.

In 2016 Sendai Airport was the first airport in Japan to be privatized. Thus, the number of low cost carrier (LCC) flights and number of destinations are expected to increase.

By train
Sendai is a major station on the Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet train) line, some two hours from Tokyo. The line continues north to Morioka and Aomori.

The most frequent ride from Tokyo is on the all-reserved Hayabusa (はやぶさ), which makes only a few stops and runs to Sendai in 1½ hours (¥11,200). The Komachi (こまち) service bound for Akita is coupled to the Hayabusa train, but bear in mind that Komachi cars are slightly narrower, and therefore, so is seating.

If you have a little more time on your hands, or if any of the above trains are sold out, the more frequent Yamabiko (やまびこ) services are a good alternative. The fare is slightly cheaper for reserved seating (¥10,890), but the Yamabiko trains also offer a few cars of unreserved seating which are cheaper still (¥10370). The Yamabiko serves more stations - and in some cases, ALL stations - so the expected travel time will be about 30–40 minutes longer than the Hayabusa and Komachi.

A few all-reserved Hayate (はやて) services remain on the route, and these are another alternative. The Hayate trains are only slightly slower than the Hayabusa and Komachi, but cost the same as the Yamabiko.

The Japan Rail Pass and JR East Rail Pass is valid for Ordinary and Green Cars on the all of the bullet trains mentioned above. On the other hand, rail passes will only cover the basic fare if you are willing to try out the premium first class seating on the Hayabusa called "GranClass". To use "GranClass" the limited express and GranClass fare has to be paid (¥13,990 from Tokyo). Without a rail pass, "GranClass" costs ¥19,930 between Tokyo and Sendai.

The Joban Line runs between Sendai and Tokyo, and was fully repaired after the 2011 earthquake in March 2020. Some services of the limited express Hitachi (ひたち) terminates at Sendai, though as a non-high speed service, the entire journey takes about 4.5 hours from Tokyo to Sendai.

By bus
Many highway buses run to Sendai from various locations in the Tohoku region.

JR Bus Tohoku and Tohoku Kyuko bus operate highway bus service to Sendai from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. There are five daytime trips and one overnight trip. Each run takes 5½ hours at a cost of ¥6,210.

Same companies also run a line to Niigata across the mountains. There are five or six daytime buses that run for 4 hours and cost ¥4,500.

An overnight bus service also runs directly from Yokohama and Shinagawa, costing ¥6,500 from Yokohama (6½ hours) and ¥6,200 from Shinagawa (5¾ hours).

Kintetsu runs an overnight bus service, the Forest, from Osaka and Kyoto to Sendai. The one-way ride costs approximately ¥12,000 and takes 12¼hours from Osaka and 10¾ hours from Kyoto.

Willer Express is a company with nightly bus services to Sendai from Tokyo. With English online booking service.

Meitetsu runs an over night bus service from Sendai to Nagoya. Departure time is 21:30 and arrival in Nagoya is 07:00.

By boat
Taiheiyo Ferry (太平洋フェリー) (Japanese) +81-22-259-0211. Offers overnight car ferries to Nagoya (21 hr 40 min) and Tomakomai (in southern Hokkaido) (15 hr 20 min) on the SS Ishikari and SS Kitakami.

Getting there: Ferry terminal is a ten-minute taxi ride away from Nakanosakae Station (中野栄駅) on the JR Senseki line (仙石線). The terminal is also not far from the Sendai-ko kita (仙台港北) interchange on the Sendai Tobu Highway (仙台東部道路). For further details, check out the ferry website.

By subway
Sendai has two subway lines. Traveling on a north-south axis, the Namboku Line connects major shopping districts with the train station. Key stations include Sendai for the train station and the AER building, Nagamachi-minami for the Mall (large American-style shopping mall including multi-screen cinema), Hirose-dori and Kotodai-koen for access to Ichibancho (covered shopping arcade), and Izumi-chuo for the soccer stadium. The second line, the Tozai Line, travels on an east-west axis and opened in December 2015.

By bus
Sendai is covered by a bus network, whose routes and timetables are available through Google Maps and other services. However, in some places buses are infrequent, with waiting times up to half an hour, and they tend to get very crowded in the rush hour.

Fortunately for tourists there is a "Loople Sendai" bus that makes a wide loop around to various Sendai attractions for ¥630 for a whole day, or ¥260 for one ride. Normal route buses have fares based on the distance travelled and usually cost from ¥170 (the basic fare) to ¥300 for some longest journeys. Note that the Loople buses are small, and can get very crowded on weekends and the summer. The loop also only runs in one direction and service ends by 5pm. You can buy a day ticket, Sendai Area Pass or pay as you go through an IC card.

Travelcards (commony called "bus cards" both in English and Japanese, although they could be also used on subway) are available, offering slight discount -- ¥5,000 card has ¥5,850-worth of fare on it. There are two major bus companies, but for all practical intents and purposes they are indistinguishable.

By bicycle
Bicycles can be rented for ¥1,000 a day or ¥500 from 14:0/, they are called Date Bike, you will need Internet access to rent one.

A few interesting cycling itineraries can found on the Date Bike website, explanations are in Japanese but maps are understandable.

On foot
The city center is compact and can easily be traversed on foot, especially by using the covered shopping arcades. There are many shops and arcades around Sendai station and therefore people could walk around on their own. Other parts of the city are quite hilly (even the center has some significant slopes) and while they still could be traversed on foot, this might be physically demanding. Residential parts are also very spread-out, and walking such large distances becomes impractical.

See
Although one of Japan's most pleasant and livable cities, Sendai is not generally high on the tourist circuit as it was flattened in the war and has few historical sights remaining. However, for those interested in touring the city, the.Gozain Sendai Volunteer English Interpreter and Tour Guide Group offer free guided tours (no charge for the guides)







Do
Akiu Onsen is an onsen town located in the outskirts of Sendai, known to be frequented by the famous samurai Date Masamune and home to its own Akiu Kokeshi, now considered to be part of the Togatta Kokeshi-type.
 * One of the few and only tour companies based locally and catering to English speaking travelers in Sendai is Attract Tohoku Their unique experiences include a food parade around the city, exploring hidden alleys, bar hopping like a local, and even a Japanese style hair-and-makeup package.
 * The biggest festival in Sendai is Tanabata (七夕). The festival starts with fireworks on Aug 5th and then the festival proper is from Aug 6th to Aug 8th. The streets are decorated with big paper decorations, there's a parade and... well, that's about it.
 * In December, there's the Pageant of Starlight which isn't really a festival as such. The trees in two of the city's main avenues - Aoba-dōri and Jōzenji-dōri - are festooned in thousands of orange lights. The effect is very pleasant, with the orange glow casting a warmth over the otherwise cold and frosty streets.

Buy

 * Sendai hira - silk
 * tsutsumiyaki - pottery
 * yanagi'u washi - hand made paper
 * Sendai tsuishu - lacquerware
 * Sakunami kokeshi - The kokeshi variety from Sakunami Onsen.
 * Sendai tansu - wardrobe
 * Matsukawa Daruma
 * Tamamushi nuri - lacquerware

Eat
Sendai's specialties include gyūtan (牛タン), grilled beef tongue; sasakamaboko (笹かまぼこ), a type of fish sausage; and zundamochi (ずんだ餅), sweet green soybean paste eaten with soft glutinous rice balls. Sendai-Miso (仙台味噌) has a long history. Hiyashi-Chuka (冷やし中華, cold ramen noodles) originated in Sendai.

Japanese



 * There is a "sushi road" in Sendai station where you can enjoy delicious sushi at inexpensive prices.

Alcohol
Due to the many universities near the city center, the nightlife in Sendai is excellent for a city of its size. Several small dance clubs on or around Chuo-dori fill with incredibly energetic young people most nights of the week. Kokubunchō (国分町) is the main entertainment district. Full of restaurants, izakaya, bars, hostess bars and strip clubs.



Go next

 * Tagajo
 * Shiogama
 * Matsushima, about 40 minutes away by local train (Senseki Line), is a bay full of tiny pine covered islands and is recognized as one of the three most beautiful views in Japan.
 * Kinkasan, 60 km away at the tip of the Oshika Peninsula, offers light hiking and lots of deer. Walk up the mountain to see monkeys. Stay at the shrine on the island and participate in the morning service (06:00).
 * Shiroishi
 * Ishinomaki
 * Osaki
 * Zao
 * Iwanuma