Sendai walking tour & city guide

Avenues and arcades

From Sendai Station, raised walkways lead into the centre, where long covered shopping arcades such as Clis Road and Ichibancho run for blocks. Jozenji-dori and Aoba-dori are wide avenues lined with tall zelkova trees; in December, during the Pageant of Starlight, hundreds of thousands of lights hang in their branches.

Kokubuncho, just north, is Tohoku's largest entertainment district, a grid of bars, izakaya and karaoke that comes alive after dark.

Date Masamune's city

Across the Hirose River, the Aoba Castle site stands on a hill with a statue of Date Masamune on horseback and a wide view over the city. The castle buildings are gone, but the stone walls remain. Zuihoden, Masamune's richly decorated mausoleum, sits among tall cedars on another hill nearby.

In early August, the Sendai Tanabata Festival fills the arcades with huge, colourful paper streamers, one of the most famous summer festivals in Japan.

Visiting tips

The Tohoku Shinkansen reaches Sendai in about 1 hour 30 minutes from Tokyo. The Loople sightseeing bus circles the main sights, and the subway links the station with the centre. Matsushima, with its pine-covered islands, one of Japan's three classic scenic views, is about 40 minutes away by train.