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Sendai
City in Tōhoku, Japan

Sendai

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region.

Plan a trip to Sendai→From Niigata

As of 1 August 2023, the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the twelfth most populated city in Japan.

Get in

Getting to Sendai

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.

See

Worth seeing

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)

  1. 01
    Miyagi Museum of Art
  2. 02
    Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine

    Completed in 1607, and is designated a national treasure.

  3. 03
    Statue of Kannon
  4. 04
    Sendai Mediatheque

    This building was designed by Toyo Ito and is an important piece of contemporary architecture.

  5. 05
    Rinno-ji
  6. 06
    SS30 Building Observation Lounge

    Aoba-ku, Chūō, 4 Chome (at the intersection of Higashi Nibancho Street and Kitamenmachi Street).

Do

Things to 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.

  1. 01
    Benyland

    It's not exactly Disneyland, but you can have a fun few hours on the roller coasters and other rides.

  2. 02
    Sankyozawa Traffic Park
Eat

Where to 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.

How locals move

Getting around Sendai the local way

  • Get inTaiheiyo Ferry (太平洋フェリー) (Japanese) +81-22-259-0211.
  • Get inOffers 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.
  • Get inGetting 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).
  • Get inFor further details, check out the ferry website.

From Wikivoyage: Sendai, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: P e z i (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.