Sendai is the capital city in the Miyagi prefecture, located in the northern part Tohoku region of Japan. Sendai in harmony with nature, offers great seasonal activities in the Sea and Mountain as well as a variety of seasonal cuisines, and its compact city scale enables you to access most tourist places by public transportation. Many foreign tourists may choose Tokyo and the western side of Japan such as Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Okinawa as their first priority, however, you might regret it if you do not choose Sendai including the other Tohoku area for your destination! Don't miss it out! 

How to get Sendai 

The bullet train called the Shinkansen regularly runs from Tokyo station for about 2-3 trains per hour, and it takes only 90 minutes by the express train Hayabusa(はやぶさ), or 120 minutes by non-express train Yamabiko (やまびこ). Its cost is around 11,000 yen. 

Bus can be an option if you would like to save money against time, it takes 6 hours from Tokyo, from 3000 yen to 6000 yen. 

Where to stay in Sendai 

I would recommend staying in the center of the city for the first night and moving to the Onsen Hot Spring area, Naruko(鳴子), Matsushima(松島), Akiu(秋保), for the second night so that you can discover the city's brightness and lively atmosphere, and also relax spending time in the onsen.  In the city, there are many major Japanese chain hotels within walkable distance, so you may not find difficulties booking hotels anytime (except for the particular time of seasonal festival called Tanabata, usually held from the end of July till the beginning of August, but it's also worth visiting!).

What to Do 

Aoba castle (青葉城) and Zuihoden (瑞鳳殿)

One of the must-see places in Sendai is the site of Aoba castle built by the feudal lords Samurai, Date Masamune in the 16th century. During the war period in the Edo era, he moved to Sendai from the northern part of Miyagi established the Sendai domain, and became the first feudal lord in that region. He is well known as the “One-Eyed Dragon” as he lost one side eye at a young age. The statue of Date Masamune looks down over the city. 

Matsushima (松島)

Matsushima Bay consists of 260 islands (called Shima in Japanese) and is surrounded by thousands of pine trees (called Matsu in Japanese), which is why the place is called Matsu-Shima(松島). Thousands of tourists from across Japan visit Matsushima to see the color change in four seasons throughout the year. I highly recommend taking an island cruise touring around those islands to discover their beautiful nature by enjoying the calm wind. 

One of the longest bridges is the Fukuura-bridge which is 252m, with shiny red architecture and it is famous as a bridge for lovers that brings romance while crossing from island to island. After the short walk from island hopping, you explore the history of Matsushima at the Zuiganji temple. On the way to the temple, you can find many souvenir shops and great seafood restaurants serving street food.  Get some energy by grabbing some food and keep walking to discover the whole area of Matsushima!

Access: Take a local train, Senseki-line, from the Sendai station for 1 hour and get off at the Matsushima-Kaigan station. Most tourist spots are within walking distance from the Matsushima-Kaigan station. 

Volcanic Crater, Okama（お釜）in Zao (蔵王)

Okama is an inactive volcanic crater located on the border of Miyagi and Yamagata, with a circumference of 1000m and 27m depth. The lake is unreal emerald green with an alien landscape. There is a big parking lot and it takes only 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to get to the peak of Zao Mountain with the picture point. The weather is valuable and changes quickly, so I recommend you to bring a jacket or an extra layer of clothes. Be careful that they close winter time from November till March. 

What to Eat 

Beef Tongue, Gyu-tan（牛タン）

Does it sound weird for you to eat beef tongue? You would doubt why people visiting Sendai are so obsessed with finding the best beef tongue place in Sendai. Sendai is historically the first spot where meat restaurants started serving beef tongue after World War Ⅱ., under the circumstances of shortage of any nutritious foods including chicken, pork, and beef. 

Today, many restaurants use charcoal to cook meats which makes this beef tongue very savory tender, and juicy despite being sliced thick, and usually, its set comes with grilled sliced beef tongue, barley mixed rice, and beef tail soup in many restaurants. I do believe that this combination of sets makes the Sendai beef tongue perfect, unlike many other Yakiniku(BBQ) restaurants outside of Sendai that slice the meat very thin and get overcooked and hard. 

Here is the list of Gyutan restaurants favored by local people 

• - Rikyu, 利休
• - Tasuke, 太助
• - Kisuke, 㐂助
• - Tsukasa, 司

• Zunda Shake, Mashed Edamame Shake

Zunda is also one of the most famous local foods in Sendai, it is sweetened mashed edamame(green soybeans) and served with Mochi(rice cake), Dango(round-shaped chewy dessert), and Shake. Zunda Saryo (ずんだ茶寮) , a local souvenir shop, was the inventor that initiated mixing ice cream with zunda, and now, you can find many cafes and shops that found its business chance also sell this sweet in Miyagi. 

The combination of smooth ice cream with some grains of beans in it gives a unique, but great texture. 

Umai Sushikan（うまい鮨勘）

Umai Sushikan is a Sendai Sendai-based sushi restaurant operated nationwide for 34 chains including a branch in Malaysia. All dishes are very delicious and reasonable as it's their main concept. A wide variety of fresh seafood dishes are offered here such as sushi, sashimi, tempura, grilled seafood, drinking snacks, and also Japanese alcohol.   

Miyagi is also well known for fresh seafood, as its location surrounded by the sea and mountains gives abundant gastronomy culture for producing fresh fish and rice, and this creates a perfect high-quality Sushi. 

Aburaage, Deep-fried Tofu

This could be the most reasonable but very locally famed dish in Miyagi. The shop is located in the area of Gyogi-temple(定義山), which takes about 50 minutes by car from the center of Sendai. People drive for nearly 50 minutes craving to eat this Aburaage rather than visiting the temple. But this temple is also worth visiting as you can learn the history of Sendai and enjoy the nature nearby. 

Anyway, Aburaage is a deep-fried tofu usually used in miso soup and hot pot but with very small pieces as a topping, but at this shop, they serve an Abraage in a very large size and thick with a triangle shape. They cook and fry a piece of aburaage every time a new order is made, so you can always get fresh hot aburaage in your hand. The thickness is a key to making it surprisingly juicy as it absorbs the original soy sauce. 

Anko is one of my favorite sweets in Japan. Anko, red bean paste or jam, is made of red beans called Azuki, used in East Asian regions such as Japan, South Korea, and China. It is a great combination, especially with bread, pancakes, rice cake, and donuts, and its rich nutrition with much carbohydrates and no fat but without butter or oils has become a new trend as a healthy sweet in many countries such as the US and European countries. Making anko paste from the beans is a bit too much time-consuming and a highly technical process, but you can find it easily in most supermarkets throughout the year. 

In my hometown, northern part of Japan, mochi(sticky rice cake) with anko is traditionally the necessary set of celebration meals for the new year, so I feel overwhelmed when I eat anko-mochi. Anko has two types used differently for each sweet, Tsubu-an, which tastes more chunky containing the seed coats, or Koshi-an, which is a smoother paste, and it can be sometimes controversial to be preferred Tsubu-an or Koshi-an. My favorite has always been Tsubu-an! 

An-Pan (An=Anko, Pan means Bread) is a fluffy bun with a sweet red bean paste filling

I would like to share the recipe for Anko Bread, which is also favored by many people.  

Ingredients (6 pieces)

• - Anko Paste 100g
• - Bread Flour 220g
• - Milk 120mil 
• - Egg 1 
• - Sugar 20g
• - Salt 2g
• - Bread yeast 3g 
• - Butter 20g 

Recipe 

1. 1 Mix the bread flour, sugar, salt, and bread yeast in the large mixing bowl. Add warmed milk at around 40℃ and a half amount of well-mixed egg into the bowl. Mix it until the dough gets sticky using a large spoon or rubber spatula. 
2. 2 Transfer the dough onto the flat space, and knead it until gets elastic for 10 minutes. In the first couple of minutes, the dough must stick to your hands which irritates you, but do not give up! It will become elastic after some time. 
3. 3 Add softened butter to the dough and continue kneading for another 5 minutes until it stretches well, and thin without breaking when pressed. 
4. 4 First Rise: Cover the dough with a wet towel or plastic wrap to avoid drying, and proof at about 30-40 ℃ for around 40 minutes until it gets double size.  
5. 5 For a proof test, press the center of the dough with a finger. If the hole remains without coming back, it is ready for the next step. 
6. 6 Divide into 6 pieces making a small ball, and let them rest for another 10 minutes. 
7. 7 Rolle single dough for flatting and put a small ball of Anko paste and keep the round shape. Make sure to wrap Anko perfectly by stretching together the dough. 
8. 8 Second Rise: Cover the small balls of bun with a wet towel or plastic wrap on the oven plate, and let rest at about 30-40℃ for 20 minutes. 
9. 9 Bake: Set oven to pre-heat at 180℃. Use half the amount of well-mixed egg left to wash over the bun to make the surface shiny.  Bake for about 20 minutes until the top of the bun color golden brown. 

Meshiagare!