Sendai Travel Guides

Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region, is a lush green tourist destination, with Aobayama Park, home to a mounted statue of Date Masamune, and Aoba-dori Avenue, which symbolizes the City of Trees. If you venture to the suburbs, you can enjoy the hot springs of Akiu Onsen and Sakunami Onsen, which are nestled in the mountains. The area is also close to areas along the Pacific Ocean such as Matsushima, Shiogama, and Kesennuma, where you can enjoy fresh seafood such as oysters.

Enjoying Sightseeing in Sendai

Sendai City, a major city in the Tohoku region, is home to Aobayama Park, where a mounted statue of the hero "Date Masamune" stands, as well as Aoba-dori Avenue and Jozenji-dori Avenue, which symbolize Sendai as the City of Trees, and are visited by many people as a sightseeing spot with abundant greenery. There are also many family-friendly spots such as the Uminomori Aquarium and Sendai City Yagiyama Animal Park, as well as a variety of urban sightseeing spots such as night views from skyscrapers, which are recommended for couples.

If you go further out into the suburbs, you will find hot springs such as Akiu Onsen and Sakunami Onsen, and you can also enjoy the beauty of the valleys such as Homenaru 48 Falls, Niguchi Gorge, and Leidakyo Gorge. Sendai is also one of the most popular tourist areas in Tohoku, with events such as the Sendai Tanabata Festival and the Michinoku Yosakoi Festival attracting hundreds of thousands of people.

History of Sendai

Sendai has prospered as a defensive base for the Tohoku region since the Yamato period (710-794), but its development was accelerated by "Date Masamune," a famous general who lived through the turbulent period of the Warring States period. After the Battle of Sekigahara, he changed the name of the area from "Sendai" to "Sendai," and built a castle town of 50,000 people around his residence, Sendai Castle.

Later, through the policies of the successive generations of the Date clan, the castle town of Sendai became one of the leading cities in Japan and developed into the center of the Tohoku economy. In the Meiji era (1868-1912), Sendai developed as an academic and military city with the construction of Tohoku Imperial University and the former 4th Regiment Barracks.

Later, the historical buildings built by the Sendai clan were destroyed by fire due to the ravages of war, but Sendai remained the economic center of the Tohoku region, and in 1989 it became the 11th ordinance-designated city in Japan.

Local Gourmet, Food Culture, and Specialties of Sendai

The Sendai area is home to a large number of restaurants, and many famous Japanese, Western, and Chinese restaurants compete with each other to serve Sendai's signature food, such as beef tongue. Recently, a number of new local delicacies have also been born, such as Sendai Aoba Gyoza, which is made with Sendai's famous snow greens, Sendai Marbo-Yakisoba, which was invented as a makanai (lunch) dish at a Chinese restaurant, and Sendai Burger. Incidentally, it is not widely known that Sendai is the birthplace of chilled chuka (cold Chinese noodles), which are eaten all over the country.

In addition, Sendai's proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its rich fishing grounds makes it possible to enjoy fresh seafood such as oysters, conger eels, ascidians, and hokki-gai (sea squirts) from Matsushima. There are also many restaurants and sushi bars that offer seafood bowls, such as harako-meshi (harako rice topped with salmon roe and salmon roe) and Sendai zuke-don (a bowl of rice topped with Sendai zuke), so you will never get tired of eating all seafood dishes during your stay.

Sasa-kamaboko and Zunda-mochi (rice cakes) are the most popular souvenirs, but recently there is also a wide selection of beef tongue and oyster-processed souvenirs, and all the souvenir stores at Sendai Station are very busy. Before you go out, check the ranking of popular souvenirs so that you do not miss the bullet train because you got carried away with your choice of souvenirs.