Sendai: Exploring Tohoku Capital
Sendai: Exploring Tohoku Capital
Visit Sendai
Sendai is an old Japanese city founded around 1600 by the famous samurai Date Masamune. Sendai is famous for its long and large covered shopping arcades (shotengai), the mausoleum of Date Masamune, and its iconic food: Zunda!
Transportation
You can easily reach Sendai from Tokyo station with the JR Tohoku shinkansen. A single ride trip from Tokyo to Sendai station costs 11.000 Yen and takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes. You can save a lot by using the JR east Tohoku pass. In fact, the pass only costs 30000 Yen and can be used for unlimited rides for 5 consecutive days. You can purchase the pass on Klook.
Watch my full video report of Sendai on Youtube:
Sendai report
In the video, I arrive in Sendai in the afternoon using the Tohoku Shinkansen. I boarded the train in Hakodate, Hokkaido where I purchased my Yakitori Obento. This is a unique obento sold only in a selected shop in Hakodate (see the video to know which one!) and I will enjoy it while looking at the scenery from the train.
The whole Shinkansen trip took around 3 hours. After arriving I enjoy a walk around the station area, then I take the elevator of the AER building to watch a panoramic view of the city at sunrise from the top. In fact the view from the AER building is stunning and completely free!
After the panorama watching I decided to have a long walk around the many Sendai covered shopping arcades (shotengai). These stretch for many Kilometers and are full of shops, restaurants, and even secret temples, as you can see in the video.
Following the shotengai walk I move to Iroha Yokocho, a narrow alley hidden in Sendai downtown. Here there are many small bars and mini restaurants.
Returning to Sendai station I try the most famous local food: Zunda. The best way to enjoy this is by drinking a Zunda shake or eating a Zunda cake. I decided to have both while enjoying my return train trip to Tokyo!
For this trip I used the 5 day JR East Tohoku pass reserved to non-Japanese nationals: 5 days of unlimited trips on all JR East trains in Tohoku for only 30.000 Yen!
