Japan Hotels, Ryokan & Tour Booking Made Easy

Although Sendai Castle was all but destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII, a trip up to the top of Aoba-yama is still worth the effort. Visitors who make the short bus trip will be greeted by a large statue of the iconic warlord Date Masamune on horseback, as well as great views over the city. Some of the castle's remains are being rebuilt, and the site also includes a shrine and various eateries and gift shops.
Loople Stop: Sendai-jo Ato [6]

Jozenji-dori Avenue is a street that really breaks the mold for a central Japanese city road--this wide, relaxed, tree-lined avenue is part of the reason that Sendai is known as the City of Trees. Take a stroll under the leaves of the Zelkova trees, pop into one of the many cafes, and then head to the Sendai Mediatheque.
Jozenji-dori Avenue is also the site of two of Sendai's best events: the Jozenji Street Jazz Festival (second weekend in September) and the Sendai Pageant of Starlight (12-31 December). Loople Stop: Jozenji Dori Shiyakusho Mae [11]

The Sendai City Museum houses an unrivalled collection of artifacts that helps visitors unravel the legend of the ubiquitous Date Masamune. A particular highlight is Masamune's armor--it is said to have been used as the basis for Darth Vader's costume in the Star Wars movies! Take the chance to learn more about the man whose rule was punctuated by both cultural advances and brutal fighting.
Loople Stop: Hakubutsukan/Kokusai Center Mae [5]

If you are looking to do any shopping in Japan, Sendai's varied shopping choices not only lie within easy walking distance of one another, but cover the full range of things any shopper could wish to buy.
Start exploring in and around Sendai Station, with its lively food and souvenir shops, then continue on to Sendai Market where the locals buy fresh local produce and weird and wonderful seafood, and finally on to the city's arcades, shopping streets, and department stores for all other consumer products, fashion and electronics. Choose from a wealth of local handicrafts including silk, pottery, hand-made paper, lacquerware and kokeshi wooden dolls.

Thanks in part to the many local universities, Sendai boasts a vivacious after-dark scene. For travelers headed further north into the Tohoku region, this is an opportunity to drink at the last chance saloon, as Sendai has the best nightlife in northeast Japan. The neon-filled, labyrinthine area of Kokubuncho is home to over 3,000 restaurants, bars and izakaya, and a number of nightclubs can be found on Chuo-dori for those who would like to dance the night away.

Sendai is known for a number of foods including gyutan (grilled beef tongue), oysters, sushi, hiyashi chuka (cold Chinese noodles), zunda (sweet green soybeans), and sasa-kamaboko (bamboo-leaf-shaped fish cake). The real pleasure lies in finding a great place to eat among the many choices and then trying one of the many new spins on traditional cuisine. Be adventurous and try our two recommendations: sweet green soybeans in the form of a zunda milkshake, and hyotan-age, a corndog made from fishcake and served with spicy ketchup!