is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

and the largest city in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the twelfth most populated city in Japan. The modern city was founded in 1600 by the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

. It is nicknamed the ; there are

Japanese zelkova ''Zelkova serrata'' (Japanese zelkova, Japanese elm, keyaki, or keaki; or ; zh, s=榉树, t=櫸樹, p=jǔshù; ) is a species of the genus ''Zelkova'' native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan.Flora of China''Zelkova serrata''/ref>Andr ...

trees lining many of the main thoroughfares such as and . In the summer, the

Sendai Tanabata Festival , also known as the , is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky ...

, the largest

Tanabata , also known as the , is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milk ...

festival in Japan, is held. In winter, the trees are decorated with thousands of lights for the , lasting through most of December. The city is also home to

Tohoku University is a public research university in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It is colloquially referred to as or . Established in 1907 as the third of the Imperial Universities, after the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, it initially focused on sc ...

, one of the former

Imperial Universities The were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan, one in Korea under Japanese rule and one in Taiwan under Japanese rule. These universities were funded by the imperial government until the end of World War I ...

. On 11 March 2011, coastal areas of the city suffered catastrophic damage from a magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake,] which triggered a destructive

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

History

Edo period

Although the Sendai area was inhabited as early as 20,000 years ago, the history of Sendai as a city begins from 1600, when the ''

relocated. Masamune was not happy with his previous stronghold, Iwadeyama, which was located in the northern portion of his territories and was difficult to access from

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

(modern-day Tokyo). Sendai was an ideal location, being in the centre of Masamune's newly defined territories, upon the major road from Edo.

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

gave Masamune permission to build a new castle in Aobayama after the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

. The previous ruler of the Sendai area had used a castle located on Aobayama. At this time Sendai was written as ("a thousand generations" or "eternity"). Masamune changed the ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' to "", which later became "" (literally: "hermit/wizard" plus "platform/plateau" or figuratively, "hermit on a platform/high ground"). The character came from a Chinese poem that praised a palace created by the

Emperor Wen of Han China Emperor Wen of Han (; 203/02 – 6 July 157 BC), personal name Liu Heng (), was the fifth emperor of the Han dynasty from 180 until his death in 157 BC. The son of Emperor Gao and Consort Bo, his reign provided a much needed stability within t ...

(reigned 180–157 BCE), comparing it to a mythical palace in the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

. Tradition says that Masamune chose this ''kanji'' so that the castle would prosper as long as a mountain inhabited by an immortal hermit. Masamune ordered the construction of Sendai Castle in December 1600 and the construction of the surrounding

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

in 1601. The grid plan roads in modern-day central Sendai are based upon his plans. File:Sendai castle01s3872.jpg,

Aoba Castle 260px, Layout of Aoba Castle is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Throughout the Edo period, Aoba Castle was home to the Date clan, ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain. The castle was also known as or as . In 2003, the castle ...

File:仙台城下絵図.jpg, Map of the Area around Sendai Castle File:Sendai Zuiho-den Tor 2.jpg,

Zuihōden in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan is the mausoleum complex of Date Masamune and his heirs, daimyō of the Sendai Domain. History When Date Masamune, known as and founder of the Sendai Domain, died in 1636, he left instructions for a mauso ...

File:Sendai Tōshō-gū haiden.jpg,

Sendai Tōshōgū is the memorial shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Five of its buildings, all dating to 1654, have been designated Important Cultural Properties. The torii and gates were damaged in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and ...

Modern era

The first railway line between Sendai and Tokyo, now the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

, opened in 1887, bringing the area within a day's travel from Tokyo for the first time in history.

Tohoku Imperial University is a public research university in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It is colloquially referred to as or . Established in 1907 as the third of the Imperial Universities, after the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, it initially focused on scien ...

, the region's first university, was founded in Sendai in 1907 and became the first Japanese university to admit female students in 1913. Sendai was incorporated as a city on 1 April 1889, with the post-

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

creation of the modern municipalities system following the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

. At the time of incorporation, the city's area was and its population was 86,000. The city grew, however, through seven annexations that occurred between 1928 and 1988. The city became a

designated city A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegate ...

on 1 April 1989; the city's population exceeded one million in 1999. Sendai was considered to be one of Japan's greenest cities, mostly because of its great numbers of trees and plants. Sendai became known as The City of Trees before the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, after the feudal

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of ...

encouraged residents to plant trees in their gardens. As a result, many houses, temples, and shrines in central Sendai had , which were used as resources for wood and other everyday materials. In 1925, the

Senseki Line The is a railway line in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Aoba-dōri Station in Sendai to Ishinomaki Station in Ishinomaki, and provides access to the central coast areas of ...

to Sendai Station became the first underground railway segment in Japan, preceding the opening of the

Tokyo Metro Ginza Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, and Taitō, Tokyo, Taitō. It is the old ...

(Asia's first subway line) by two years. The 2nd Infantry Division was known as the "Sendai Division" as it was based in Sendai, and recruited locally. During the Second World War it was involved in many different campaigns, but one of the most important was the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during the Pacific Theater of W ...

. During the bombing of Sendai during World War II by the United States on 10 July 1945, much of the historic center of the city was burned, with 2,755 inhabitants killed and 11,933 houses destroyed in the city. File:Sendai map circa 1930.PNG, A city map of 1927, Japanese language edition File:Tohoku Imperial University,1913.jpg,

File:Basho no Tsuji circa 1930.JPG, Basho no Tsuji (1930) File:Sendai after the 1945 air raid.JPG, Bombing of Sendai during World War II File:Tohoku Daigaku Honbu.jpg,

Katahira Campus

Postwar development

Following World War II, the city was rebuilt, and Sendai became a vital transportation and logistics hub for the Tōhoku region with the construction of major arteries such as the

Tōhoku Expressway The is a south-north national expressway, and the longest expressway in Japan at . Its southern terminus is in Kawaguchi, Saitama in the Greater Tokyo Area, at the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway and Kawaguchi Route near Araijuku Station, and its no ...

and

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with ...

. In the early 1950s, the United States Army, Japan operated Camp Schimmelpfennig and Camp Sendai in the city. Sendai has been subject to several major earthquakes in recent history, including the

1978 Miyagi earthquake The occurred at 17:14 local time (08:14 UTC) on 12 June. The epicentre was offshore of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It had a surface-wave magnitude of 7.7, JMA magnitude 7.4, and triggered a small tsunami. The earthquake reached a maximum intensit ...

, which was a catalyst for the development of Japan's current earthquake resistance standards, and the

2005 Miyagi earthquake On August 16, 2005, an earthquake struck the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshū at 11:46 am (02:46 UTC) on August 16, 2005, causing damage and power outages. The event registered 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale. Earthquake char ...

. Most recently, the coastal area of Sendai, including

Sendai Airport is an international airport located in Natori of Miyagi Prefecture, south-southeast of Sendai, Japan. The airport is the largest in Tōhoku region. The airport's annual passenger numbers have been around 3.6 million in recent years, competi ...

, was severely damaged in the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. The tsunami reportedly reached as far as Wakabayashi Ward Office, from the coastline. Thousands were killed, and countless more were injured and/or made homeless. Sendai's port was heavily damaged and temporarily closed, reopening on 16 April 2011. File:Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall cropped.jpg, Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall File:SH-60B helicopter flies over Sendai.jpg, An aerial view of Sendai harbour after the earthquake, 12 March 2011 File:Hinomaru-Sendai Bus OP-13 and OP-11 Rakuten Eagles Victory Parade 2013.jpg,

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

(2013)

Geography

Sendai is located at lat. 38°16'05" north, long. 140°52'11" east. The city's area is , and stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the

Ōu Mountains The are a mountain range in the Tōhoku region of Honshū, Japan. It is the longest range in Japan and stretches south from the Natsudomari Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture to the Nasu volcanoes at the northern boundary of the Kantō region. T ...

, which are the east and west borders of Miyagi Prefecture. As a result, the city's geography is quite diverse. Eastern Sendai is a plains area, the center of the city is hilly, and western areas are mountainous. The highest point in the city is

Mount Funagata is a mountain within the Ōu Mountains on the border of Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is listed as one of the "200 famous mountains of Japan" and has a height of . The mountain is also kn ...

which stands

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Unique among Japan's large coastal cities, Sendai's city core is built on a terrace at elevation. The Sendai basin area is (the mountainous area is , the plain area is and the water body is ). The basin consists of urban areas, paddy fields and forests. The mid and upstream areas have forests. The

Natori River The is a river located in central Miyagi prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It starts at Mount Kamuro in the Ōu Mountains and flows in an easterly direction through the cities of Natori and Sendai. The river's headwaters star ...

flows through the area and reaches Sendai Bay after . The flows through Sendai. The river is well known as a symbol of Sendai, especially because it appears in the lyrics of Aoba-jō Koi-uta (青葉城恋唄; literally, ''The Aoba Castle Love Song''), a popular song sung by Muneyuki Satō.

was built close to the river to use the river as a natural

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. The river frequently flooded until the 1950s, but dams and levees constructed in the 1960s and 1970s have made such floods rare. Most mountains in Sendai are dormant volcanoes, much older than the more famous

Mount Zaō The , commonly called Mount Zaō, are a complex cluster of stratovolcanoes on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. The central volcano of the group includes several lava domes and a tuff cone, Goshiki-dake, which ...

and Naruko volcanoes in nearby municipalities. However, many

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

can be found in the city, indicating hydrothermal activity. The Miyagi Oki

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

occurs offshore Sendai once every 25 to 40 years. The 7.2 magnitude

, which occurred on August 16, 2005, had an epicenter close to the ''Miyagi Oki'' earthquake area. However, the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion concluded that it was not the ''Miyagi Oki'' earthquake, saying "...the recent event is not thought to be this earthquake. This is because the magnitude of the earthquake was small, and the source area, which was estimated from the aftershock distribution and seismic waves, didn't cover the whole expected source region. Although, the recent event ruptured a part of the focal region of the expected earthquake." In 2011, the 9.0 magnitude

2011 Tōhoku earthquake Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

occurred offshore Sendai, resulting in a devastating tsunami.

Wards

Sendai has five

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

("ku"), which were created when it became a

in 1989. The city consciously avoided names that included directions (e.g., north , center ) when it chose names for the new wards.

Cityscape

File:DownTown of SendaiCity01.jpg, View of Sendai from AER (2019) File:Night view from Mukaiyama.JPG, Sendai night skyline from Mukaiyama (2012) File:211028_Sendai_Station_Sendai_Miyagi_pref_Japan02s5.jpg, Sendai Station (2021) File:Kokubuncho-dori ave. viewed from Jozenji-dori ave. cropped.jpg, Kokubunchō (2010) File:Koutoudai Park3.jpg, Kōtōdai Park (2007)

Climate

Sendai has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa''), which features warm and wet summers, and cool and dry winters. Sendai summers are not as hot as

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to the south, while the winters are much milder than

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

to the north, but retains significant seasonal differences in temperature and rainfall. Extremes range from . Of Japan's prefectural capitals, Sendai experiences the fewest days of extreme temperatures (highs outside ) at 19.6 per year, compared to Tokyo's average of 49. Winters are cool and relatively dry, with January temperatures averaging . Snowfall is much lower than cities on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

coast, such as Niigata and Tottori. Summers are very warm and much of the year's precipitation is delivered at this time, with an August average of . The city is rarely hit by

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s, and experiences only 6 days with more than of rainfall on average. Sendai's

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

season usually begins in late April to early October, which is later than in most cities in Japan. During this season, cold winds from the Okhotsk air mass, called " Yamase", blow in and depress daytime highs.

Demographics

, the city had an estimated population of 1,097,407 and a population density of 1,397 persons per km². The city's total area was 786.35 km². The 2000 National Census revealed that 88.5% of the city's population (892,252 people) lived in a 129.69 km² area, which is 16.6% of the city's total area. The population density in this area was 6,879.9 persons per km², more than 5 times higher than the city's average population density at that time, 1,286.6 persons per km². Approximately 10,000 people in Sendai were non-Japanese citizens. Sendai had 525,828 households in 2020. The average household had approximately 2.07 members. The average household was becoming smaller every year, because single-member households were increasing. At this time Sendai had more people in their early 50s and in their 20s and early 30s than in other age groups. This is a result of the first and second baby booms in Japan, and university students. The average age in Sendai is 38.4, which makes the city one of the youngest major cities in Japan.

Governance

Sendai's political system is similar to other cities in Japan, because the

Local Autonomy Law The , passed by the House of Representatives and the House of Peers on March 28, 1947 and promulgated as Law No. 67 of 1947 on April 17,Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation Database SystemLocal Autonomy Act/ref> is an Act of devolution t ...

makes all municipalities uniform in terms of organization and power. However, Sendai is a designated city, so it has the same jurisdiction as

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

in some areas. Sendai has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city legislature. The Sendai City Assembly members are elected from 5 elective districts, which correspond to the city's 5 wards. The number of assembly members allocated to each ward is based upon population. As of May 2005, the city has 60 assembly members; 17 from Aoba Ward, 11 from Miyagino, 8 from Wakabayashi, 13 from Taihaku, and 11 from Izumi. The City Assembly elects an Assembly Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. Sendai has two vice mayors, who are not elected by the populace. Miyagi contributes 24 seats to the Miyagi Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Miyagi 1st district and the Miyagi 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

List of mayors of Sendai (1889 to present)

Economy

Sendai is the center of the Tōhoku region's economy, and is the base of the region's logistics and transportation. The

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

in Greater Sendai, Sendai Metropolitan Employment Area (1.6 million people), is US$61.7 billion in 2010. Sendai city by itself has a nominal GDP of approximately US$50 billion . The city's economy heavily relies upon retail and services – the two industries provide approximately two thirds of the employment and close to half of the establishments. Sendai is frequently called a branch-office economy, because very few major companies are headquartered in the city. Various authorities are cooperating to alleviate this problem, primarily by encouraging high-tech ventures from

, which is well known for its science and engineering departments. There are also incentives for startups available from the prefectural government.

Tohoku Electric Power is an electric utility, servicing 7.6 million individual and corporate customers in six prefectures in Tōhoku region plus Niigata Prefecture. It provides electricity at 100 V, 50 Hz, though some areas use 60 Hz. Tohoku Electric Power ...

, a major regional supplier of electric power, has its headquarters in Sendai and also operates the Shin-Sendai Thermal Power Station located within the city. Sendai's economic growth rate has stabilized since the 2011 Japan earthquake. The growth rate was only 0.4% in 2011 after the quake created economic turmoil in coastal areas. The year after, in 2012 the rate spiked to 10.4% after reconstruction efforts. It has since fallen to a closer trend to what is expected of 3.7% in 2013. Tourism in 2016 attracted an estimated 2.229 million visitors to Sendai.

Education

Sendai is sometimes called an because the city has many universities relative to its population. Universities located within Sendai include: * Miyagi Gakuin Women's University *

Miyagi University , abbreviated as MYU or Miya-Dai, is a public university located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1997, the university has two campuses in Miyagi Prefecture, after merging with Miyagi Agricultural College in 2005. History In 1997, Mi ...

* Miyagi University of Education *

Tohoku Gakuin University is a private university in Sendai, Miyagi, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 1886 under the influence of the Reformed Church in the United States, German Reformed Church missionaries. Miyagi Gakuin Women's University is its sist ...

Tohoku Fukushi University is a Japanese private university in Sendai. Notable alumni Politics *Shintaro Ito * Itsunori Onodera Sports *Baseball **Mamoru Kishida ** Takashi Saito **Kazuhiro Sasaki ** Kazuhiro Wada ** Ken Kadokura ** Tomoaki Kanemoto *Figure skating ** Ak ...

* Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University *

Schools in the city include Tohoku International School.

Transport

Airport

The city is served by

(located in neighboring Natori), which has international flights to several countries, and the Port of Sendai. A rail link to Sendai began service on March 18, 2007.

Ibex Airlines is a Japanese regional airline headquartered in Sendai, Japan.Corporate Profile
." ''Ibex Airline ...

headquarters is also located near the airport.

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

's Sendai Station is the main transport hub for the city. The station is served by seven JR lines and is a major station on the Tōhoku and

Akita Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen rail line in Japan. Serving the Kantō and Tōhoku Regions of the country, it links Tokyo and Akita in Akita prefecture. From Tokyo to Morioka in Iwate prefecture, it operates on the Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks. From ...

lines. An underground passage connects the station to the

Sendai Subway The is a rapid transit system in Sendai, Japan. It is operated by the Sendai City Transportation Bureau. The subway consists of two lines, the north-south Namboku Line, which opened in July 1987, and the east-west Tozai Line, which opened ...

. The subway has two lines— Namboku ("north-south") and Tōzai ("east-west") with a total of 30 stations. When completed in 2015, Yagiyama station became the highest-elevated subway station in the country at 136.4 meters. *

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East) **

: **

: – – – – **

Jōban Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line officially begins at Nippori Station in Arakawa, Tokyo before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, Miyagi. However, following ...

: – – **

Senzan Line The is a railway line in Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it runs from Sendai Station (Miyagi), Sendai Station in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture to Uzen-Chitose Station in Yamagata, Yamagata, Yamagata, Yamagata Prefec ...

: – – – – – – – – – – – – – **

: – – – – – – – – – *

(All stations)

Bus

In addition to the public bus system, a loop bus called Loople runs between tourism hotspots around the city.

Highways

The

runs north–south through western Sendai, and is connected to other highways, such as the Sendai-Nambu Road, Sendai-Tobu Road, Sanriku Expressway (Sendai-Matsushima Road), and Sendai Hokubu Road. * * * * * * * * * * * *

Port

Ferries connecting

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 31 July 2023, it had an estimated population of 167,372, with 83,836 households, an ...

and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

stop at the Port of Sendai. File:211028 Sendai Airport Sendai Miyagi prefecture Japan01bs.jpg,

File:Sendai_Station_20230806.jpg, Sendai Station File:International Center Station south1 exit 20160105.jpg, International Center Station File:Miyakoh-Sendai-Highwaybuscenter.jpg, Sendai Highway Buscenter File:MiyagiKendo23Go2007-10.jpg,

Sendai-Tōbu Road The is a toll road in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by the East Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO East Japan). Along with the Sanriku Expressway, Sendai-Hokubu Road, Sendai-Nanbu Road, and Tōhoku Expressway the northern por ...

( Gurutto Sendai) File:SendaiPortCentralPark and Port of Sendai.JPG, Sendai Port

Culture

Streets

The most well-known streets in Sendai, and , are both lined with Japanese zelkovas. These are symbols of "The City of Trees". Jozenji-Dori has a promenade and a few sculptures. It is a place of relaxation. Many events and festivals, such as the Sendai Pageant of Starlight and the Jozenji Street Jazz Festival, take place on Jozenji-Dori and in . Aoba-Dori is the main business road in Sendai. Other major roads in the city include Hirose-Dori (

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, , and ''Ginkgo'' is n ...

), and Higashi-Nibancho-Dori.

Festivals

The most famous festival in Sendai is Tanabata, which attracts more than 2 million visitors every year and is the largest

Festival in Japan. It is relatively quiet compared to other traditional Japanese festivals, because its main attractions are intricate Tanabata decorations. The Aoba Matsuri Festival follows more typical Japanese festival traditions, with a

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

, floats, a samurai parade, and traditional dancing. Local people burn their New Year decorations and pray for health in the new year during the Dontosai Festival, the oldest festival in Miyagi Prefecture. Various contemporary festivals also take place in Sendai, such as the Jōzenji Streetjazz Festival, the Michinoku Yosakoi Festival, and the Sendai Pageant of Starlight. The Jōzenji Streetjazz Festival is one of the largest amateur music festivals in Japan. It began as a jazz festival in 1991, but soon began to accept applications from all genres. The Michinoku Yosakoi festival is a dance festival, derived from the Yosakoi Festival that takes place in

Kōchi Kochi is a city in Kerala, India. Kochi or Kōchi may also refer to: People * Kochi people, a predominantly Pashtun nomadic people of Afghanistan * , a Japanese surname: ** Arata Kochi (born 1948 or 1949), Japanese physician and World Health Org ...

. Trees in downtown Sendai are decorated with lights during the Sendai Pageant of Starlights. The event provided the idea for the Festival of Lights annually held in Riverside, Sendai's sister city. In 2005, the streets were lit up with one million miniature bulbs.

Specialties and crafts

Sendai is the origin of several foods, including '' gyūtan'' (beef tongue, usually grilled),

hiyashi chūka is a Chinese-style Japanese dish consisting of chilled Chinese noodles with various toppings served in the summer. It is also called in Kansai region and in Hokkaido. Toppings are usually colorful cold ingredients and a ''tare'' sauce. The ...

(cold Chinese noodles), and

robatayaki In Japanese cuisine, , often shortened to ''robata'' (ろばた in hiragana), refers to a method of cooking, similar to barbecue, in which items of food are cooked at varying speeds over hot charcoal. Many Japanese restaurants, both in Japan an ...

(Japanese-style barbecue). However, robatayaki was later introduced to

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. Located along the coast of the North Pacific Ocean, it serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. History An ...

, which developed and popularized the dish. As a result, many people believe Kushiro is the origin of Robatayaki. Zundamochi (ずんだ餅,

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

balls with sweet, bright green edamame paste), and sasakamaboko (笹かまぼこ,

kamaboko is a type of Curing (chemistry), cured , a processed seafood product common in Japanese cuisine. It was initially made in the year 1115. Production and uses is made by forming various Purée, pureed deboned whitefish (fisheries term), whit ...

shaped like bamboo leaves) are also considered to be Sendai specialties. Sendai is also known for good

sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

, and

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

. This is because Sendai is near several major fishing ports, such as

Kesennuma is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,803 and a population density of in 26,390 households. The total area of the city is . Large sections of the city were destroyed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake an ...

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

, and

Shiogama is a cities of Japan, city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,662, and a population density of 3,032 persons per km² in 23,270 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Shiogama is in n ...

, and the fact that Miyagi Prefecture is a major producer of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. There are many

ramen is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

restaurants in Sendai, and the area is known for a particular spicy

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...

. Also, Sendai station offers the most types of

ekiben are a specific type of ''bento'' boxed meals, sold on trains and at train stations in Japan. They come with disposable chopsticks (when necessary) or spoons. ''Ekiben'' containers can be made from plastic, wood, or ceramic. Many train stations ...

of any station in Japan. In autumn, many people organise Imonikai, a sort of picnic by the river which involves making a potato stew called ''

Imoni is a type of taro and meat soup eaten traditionally in the autumn in the Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six p ...

''. In winter, restaurants offer ''seri-nabe'' (せり鍋), a regional specialty that consists of ''

seri Seri, Séri, or SERI may refer to: People *Camille Séri (born 1999), French hurdler *Jean Michaël Seri, an Ivorian professional footballer Places *Seri Yek-e Zarruk, Iran *Seri, Bheri, Nepal *Seri, Karnali, Nepal *Seri, Mahakali, Nepal *Seri ...

'' and various ingredients mixed in a hotpot. Many crafts from Sendai were originally created under the influence of the Date family during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. Examples are Sendai Hira, a hand woven silk fabric, Tsutsumiyaki pottery, and Yanagiu Washi paper. However, some crafts, such as umoregi zaiku (crafts created from fossil wood) were developed by low-ranking samurai who needed side jobs to survive.

Kokeshi are simple wooden Japanese dolls with no arms or legs that have been crafted for more than 150 years as a toy for children. Originally from the Tohoku region in northern Honshu, ''kokeshi'' are handmade from wood, having a simple trunk and h ...

dolls were popularized by hot spring resorts that sold them as gifts. Some relatively recent developments include Sendai Tsuishu

lacquer Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity. Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...

ware and Tamamushinuri lacquerware, both of which were developed after the

. Sendai was also known for its production of

Tansu are traditional Japanese mobile storage cabinets. are commonly used for the storage of clothing, particularly kimono. were first recorded in the Genroku era (1688–1704) of the Edo period (1603–1867). The two characters, and , appear to ...

, clothing drawers made from wood with elaborate ironwork.

Sites of interest

Sendai is home to historical sites related to the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date fam ...

. The ruins of Sendai Castle are close to downtown on Aobayama, which also gives a panoramic view of the city. The

is the tomb of

and is home to artifacts related to the Date family. It is on a hill called Kyogamine, which is the traditional resting place for Date family members. In Aoba-ku, the

Ōsaki Hachiman-gū Osaki is a type of yokai told about in legends of Japan. They are also called osaki-gitsune. They can also alternatively be written 尾先. Other ways of writing them include 尾裂, 御先狐, 尾崎狐, among others. Concept They are in the f ...

''shaden'', built in 1607 by Date Masamune, is designated a

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

Mutsu Kokubun-ji Yakushidō is a Buddhist temple in Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai, Japan. It belongs to the Shingon-shū Chizan-ha sect, and its ''honzon'' is a '' hibutsu'' statue of Yakushi Nyōrai. It is the successor of the provincial temple ("kokubunji") of former Mutsu P ...

is the

provincial temple The are Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). The official name for each temple was Konkomyo Shitenno Gokoku-ji (Konkōmyō Shitennō ...

of Mutsu Province. SendaiJoOtemonSumiYagura2003-11

Newer historical sites include the former home of Doi Bansui, a famous lyricist, and a monument at Sendai City Museum that commemorates the Chinese writer

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

. Another statue of Lu Xun can be found in the Tohoku University Katahira Campus, where Lu Xun studied medical science. Older historical sites include the Tōmizuka Tomb, a tomb that dates back to the late 4th century or early 5th century, and the Tomizawa Preserved Forest site, where the excavated remains of a

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

human settlement (

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

– roughly 20,000 years ago) have been protected by a large museum structure, built in 1996. The nearby

Site of Tagajō was a ''jōsaku''-style Japanese castle built in the late Nara period in what is now part of the city of Tagajō in Miyagi prefecture in the Tōhoku region of far northern Honshu, Japan. Matsuo Bashō, Bashō tells of his visit to the site in ' ...

was an important early fort and administrative centre.

Museums

Sendai City Museum The is the main museum of Sendai, Japan, and is located in the former Third Bailey of Sendai Castle. The museum displays various artifacts related to the Date clan and the history of Sendai. Date Masamune's famous suit of armor and artifacts re ...

displays artifacts related to the Date family and the history of Sendai. Date Masamune's famous suit of armour and artifacts related to

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Ph ...

's visit to Rome (

National Treasures of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is " Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from ...

) are sometimes on display. The

Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It opened in 2015 as a successor to the Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium, which had been open for 88 years. History Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium was a public aquarium in Matsushima ...

, which opened in 2015 as a successor to the

Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It opened in 2015 as a successor to the Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium, which had been open for 88 years. History Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium was a public aquarium in Matsushima ...

, is focusing on raising the

Sanriku , sometimes known as , lies on the northeastern side of the island of Honshu, corresponding to today's Aomori, Iwate and parts of Miyagi Prefecture and has a long history. The 36 bays of this irregular coastline tend to amplify the destructivenes ...

fish, the blue sharks. The

Miyagi Museum of Art Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surname ...

is Sendai's largest art museum. A total of 24 sculptures have been installed in public locations in Sendai through its 'City of Sculptures' project. The

Sendai City Tomizawa Site Museum The is an archaeology museum in the city of Sendai in northern Japan that preserves a Petrified wood, fossilized forest, where the remains of human habitation that occurred 20,000 years ago were discovered during surveying work in 1988. The mu ...

in the southern part of the city preserves a fossilized forest where the remains of human habitation from 20,000 years ago can be seen. The Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall is dedicated to remembering the air raid of July 1945 in which most of Sendai was destroyed. Other museums include the , and Tohoku University's Museum of Natural History.

Natural sites

Western Sendai is home to many sites of natural beauty, many of them found around Akiu Onsen and Sakunami, which are hot spring resorts. Sites around the Akiu area include the

Akiu Great Falls is a waterfall located in Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. It is one of " Japan’s Top 100 Waterfalls", in a listing published by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment i ...

, sometimes counted as one of Japan's three great waterfalls, and the Rairai Gorge, known for its autumn colours. The Futakuchi Gorge contains waterfalls that have been designated as natural monuments and the Banji Cliffs, an example of

columnar basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

. The Sakunami area is also known for its natural environment, with

cherry blossom The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

s in the spring, and autumnal colours. The nearby Hōmei Shijuhachi Taki Falls is the name of waterfalls found in the higher reaches of the Hirose River. The origin of the name "Hōmei" (鳳鳴, " Chinese phoenix cry") is said to come from ancient local inhabitants' claim that the sound of the waterfalls was similar to the legendary bird's call. Matsushima miyagi z

The Tatsunokuchi Gorge offers a view of a

petrified wood Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

next to the Otamaya-bashi bridge. Nishi Park and Tsutsujigaoka Park are appreciated for their cherry blossom in the spring. The Hirose River and the Gamo tideland are home to diverse wildlife.

Matsushima is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (''shima'') covered in pines (''matsu'') – hence the name – and it is considered to be one of the Three Views of Japan. Nearby cultural properti ...

, which is one of the

Three Views of Japan The is the canonical list of Japan's three most celebrated scenic sights, attributed to a 1643 book by the scholar Hayashi Gahō. In 1915, modeled on the old Three Views of Japan, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha (株式会社実業之日本社) held a n ...

, is near Sendai, in

Other sites

Sendai Mediatheque Sendai Mediatheque is a library in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was designed by Toyo Ito in 1995 and completed in 2001. History The Sendai Mediatheque held its official opening in January 2001. Ito also refers to Mies' Barcelona Pavilio ...

is a multipurpose facility that houses the city library, galleries, and film studio facilities open for use by the general public. The building was designed by

Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated ...

and is known for its innovative architecture. The AER Building, Miyagi Prefectural Office, and SS30 Building have observation decks that offer panoramic views. The Sendai Trust Tower is the tallest building in Tohoku and

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. Uminomori Aquarium opened in July 2015, built near the Port of Sendai. The

Sendai Daikannon Sendai Daikannon (), officially known as the Sendai Tendou Byakue Daikannon (仙台天道白衣大観音), is a large statue located in Sendai, Japan. It portrays a woman, the bodhisattva ''Guanyin, Byakue Kannon'' (白衣観音, "white-robed K ...

is an approximately high

Kannon Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

statue. The statue was built during Japan's

bubble economy Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

by a now defunct company. It was once the tallest statue in the world. Sendai also contains a

Peace Pagoda A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa: a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most, though not all, peace pagodas built since World War II ...

, built by

Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga , often referred to as just Nipponzan Myohoji or the Japan Buddha Sangha, is a Japanese new religious movement and activist group founded in 1917 by Nichidatsu Fujii, emerging from Nichiren Buddhism. "Nipponzan Myōhōji is a small Nichiren Budd ...

in 1974.

Religion

Buddhism

Buddhist temples in Sendai include Mutsu Kokubun-ji, Saihō-ji, and Mutsu Kokubun-niji.

Shinto

Shinto shrines in Sendai include Miyagiken Gokoku Shrine,

Tsubonuma Hachiman Shrine Tsubonuma Hachiman Shrine (坪沼八幡神社, ''Tsubonuma Hachiman jinja'') is a Shinto shrine located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It is a Hachiman shrine, dedicated to the kami Hachiman as well as to Emperor Ojin, Empress Jingū, Emperor ...

, Futahashira Shrine, and

, a memorial shrine of

Catholicism

The Catholic Church has been associated with Sendai since 1613, the year in which

, ''daimyō'' of Sendai, built a galleon to send an embassy to the Pope in Rome headed by

. Although the embassy was successful in its aim of establishing relations with the Holy See, Masamune's plans were frustrated by the suppression of Christianity in Japan. The Diocese of Sendai (previously the Diocese of Hakodate) was established in 1891, only two years after the promulgation of a new constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion in Japan, in 1889. The Bishop of Sendai currently oversees the four northern prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate and Aomori, serving 11,152 Catholics in 56 parishes. Mototerakoji, the Cathedral of the diocese, is located a few blocks north of Sendai Station.

Sports

Although the

Lotte Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific League in as the Mainichi Ori ...

briefly used Sendai as a temporary home for the franchise from 1973 to 1977, the city was largely ignored by professional sports until 1994. In that year, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team was changed into a club team, Brummel Sendai, with the goal of eventually being promoted into the

J.League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

. The team achieved this goal when the J. League expanded in 1999 with the creation of a second division. The name of the team was simultaneously changed to

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Sendai, Miyagi, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Elect ...

. Currently the city also host semi-professional outfit

Sony Sendai FC was a former Japanese people, Japanese Association football, football club based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. They last played in the Japan Football League, Japanese fourth tier of football league until 2024. They were withdrawn by their ...

. In 2005, the number of professional sports teams based in Sendai suddenly increased to three. The

was introduced as a new

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

baseball franchise after widely publicized turmoil involving the merger of the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Sta ...

and the Orix Blue Wave developed into the first strike in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. Additionally, the

Japan Basketball League The Japan Basketball League (JBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan. It made up the top-tier of basketball in Japan alongside the bj league, Japan's other basketball competition, with no promotion and relegation between bj and the J ...

, which began its inaugural season in November 2005, included the

Sendai 89ers The Sendai 89ers (仙台89ERS) are a Japanese professional basketball team that compete in the first division of the B.League. They are based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The team name is based on the city's founding year, 1889. Current roster ...

among its first six teams. Annual sporting events include the Sendai Cup, an international football tournament for U-18 teams, and the Sendai International

Half Marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

. In 2006 of the Sendai International half marathon, Mizuki Noguchi, who won the women's marathon gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, took part in and won the race in a surprising course record. Various sporting venues can be found in Sendai, such as

Hitomebore Stadium Miyagi , the for sponsorship reasons, is an athletic and football stadium in the town of Rifu in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The stadium's capacity is 49,133. The crescent-shaped roof extending past the edge of the stadium is meant to evoke images of ...

(venue of

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Yurtec Stadium Sendai is a football (soccer), football stadium in the Nanakita Park, Izumi-ku, Sendai, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Built in 1997, it is home to Vegalta Sendai, MyNavi Sendai, Mynavi Sendai Ladies and Sony Sendai FC, Sony Sendai. The stadium ...

Miyagi Baseball Stadium , officially Miyagi Baseball Stadium, is a baseball stadium in Miyaginohara Sports Park in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The 30,508-seat park is owned by the prefecture and operated by Rakuten, which has used it as the home field for the Tohok ...

Sendai City Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 7,000. It hosted preliminary round games for the Basketball World Championship 2006, and is also the home arena of the Sendai 89ers of the Japan prof ...

, Sendai Athletic Stadium, Shellcom Sendai and

Sendai Hi-Land Raceway Sendai Hi-Land Raceway was a motor racing circuit in 12 Hayasaka, Shinkawa, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. In the 1990s, Sendai hosted rounds of the Japanese Touring Car Championship and Japanese Grand Touring Championship. It al ...

. The city is also known as the origin of

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

in Japan, and both 2006 Olympic gold medalist

Shizuka Arakawa is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in f ...

and two-time Olympic gold medalist (2014, 2018)

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skat ...

trained in Sendai during their childhood.

and Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School are well known for their strong sports programs, the latter for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. In 2006, Sendai hosted some games of the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

. Before that, the city had some experience at hosting international basketball events such as the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

editions of the

FIBA Women's Asia Cup The FIBA Women's Asia Cup is an international basketball tournament which takes place every two years for women's national teams from FIBA Asia, and since 2017 FIBA Oceania. It was known as the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship u ...

Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling , often called , is a Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion. It is based in the city of Sendai, Miyagi in the Tohoku region. History Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling was founded in 2005 by Meiko Satomura, a female professional wrestler ...

is a joshi wrestling company based in sendai.

Baseball

( Pa.League)

Basketball

(

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

)

Football

* MyNavi Sendai ( WE.League) *

(

)

Futsal

Voscuore Sendai was a Japanese futsal club, played in the F. League. The team was located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Their main arena was Sendai Gymnasium. Chronicle Trophies References External links

* Sports clubs and teams in S ...

( F.League)

Volleyball

*Ligare Sendai ( V.League)

International relations

Sister cities

Sendai has a long history of international relationships. Its affiliation with

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

dates back to March 9, 1957. Sendai is twinned with: *

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, Mexico (since 1973) *

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

, China (since 1980) *

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, United States (since 1997) *

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

, South Korea (since 2002) *

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus (since 1973) *

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, France (since 1967) * Riverside, United States (since 1957)

Friendship cities

Sendai also cooperates with: *

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, Finland (since 2005) *

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

, Taiwan (since 2006)

International events

The

Sendai International Music Competition The Sendai International Music Competition is a triennial violin and piano music competition held in Sendai, Japan, presented in association with the Sendai International Music Competition Organizing Committee, Sendai, City of Sendai and the Sen ...

takes place every three years, welcoming participants from around the world. Sendai has hosted international conferences about disaster management, as is recognized as a model city for disaster risk prevention.

Notable people

Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese retired professional wrestler primarily known for his tenures with Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) where he is a former five-time GHC Tag Team Champion and a former two-time Global Tag League winner in 2008 and 2011. Saito is also kno ...

, Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah (Currently lives in

Nagoya, Aichi is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

) *

Hirohiko Araki , better known as , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

artist; creator of ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly manga magazine ''Ultra Jum ...

''. The fictional city of Morioh that appears in ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' is based on Sendai. *

Junichi Inagaki is a Japanese popular music singer. Biography Inagaki was born and raised in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, and graduated from Miyagi Prefectural Technical High School. One of his earliest musical influences was Stevie Wonder. W ...

, singer-songwriter *

Miho Arakawa 松来未祐のアルカナの扉 #4、アイドル専門チャンネルPigoo、2014年放送。 is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society. Career A group member of Hamiradi, ...

, voice actress * Chris Broad, British YouTuber based in Sendai *

Mika Doi is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator who was born in Sendai.Doi, Hitoshi. She's also the Japanese voice actor for the charcacter Daisy Duck"Doi Mika" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011. Filmography T ...

, voice actress *

Mimori Yusa , (born February 20, 1964, in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture), is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She made her nationwide debut at the age of 6 on the TV program Chibikko Nodojiman, which she recited the Takibi nursery rhyme. Shortly after graduating ...

, singer-songwriter *

, figure skater and two-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion (

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

) *

Eugen Herrigel Eugen Herrigel (; 20 March 1884 – 18 April 1955) was a German philosopher, born in Lichtenau. He taught philosophy at Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai, Japan, from 1924 to 1929 and introduced Zen to large parts of Europe through his writi ...

lectured at

from 1924 until 1929 * Sharla Hinskens, Canadian YouTuber based in Sendai *

Kanata Hongō is a Japanese actor. He is part of Stardust Promotion and has appeared several times in music videos, movies, TV series, and magazines. His major breakthrough role was as Ryoma Echizen in the live-action film adaptation of ''The Prince of T ...

, actor and model *

Karen Iwata is an actress and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team A. Biography Iwata was born on May 13, 1998, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Her mother is Miwa Sugawara, who works as a TV personality in Sendai. As a child, Iwat ...

, member of girl-group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

Monkey Majik Monkey Majik (stylised as MONKEY MAJIK) is a Japanese pop rock band formed in 2000 in Sendai, Japan. The band consists of Canadian brothers, Maynard Plant and Blaise Plant, each acting as lead vocalists and guitarists, and two Japanese members: ...

, band, formed and based in Sendai *

Hikaru Minegishi , also known by his nickname Pika, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Philippines national team. Early life and education Minegishi was born on June 5, 1991. His Filipino mother is a native of Olongapo while his fathe ...

, footballer *

Yūsei Oda is a Japanese voice actor from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Filmography Anime *'' Birdy the Mighty'', Mori *'' Charlotte'', Udō (ep 2) *'' Cybuster'', Ken *'' Digimon Xros Wars'', Stingmon *'' Dragon Ball Super'', Zenō's Attendant, Anat ...

, voice actor *

Minene Sakurano is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist born on November 29 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Sakurano made her debut in 1995 with her story ''Mother Doll'', which tied for first place in the 1st Enix 21st Century Manga Prize contest, ...

artist; creator of '' Mamotte Shugogetten'' *

Kimi Sato Kimi Sato (born 5 March 1949) is a Japanese composer. Biography She was born in Sendai where she studied with Yoshiro Irino and graduated from the Toko Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo. She continued her studies at the Paris Conservatory with Ol ...

, composer *

Somei Satoh is a Japanese composer of contemporary music. Style Satoh’s compositions mix Japanese court music with European romanticism and electronic music. Career His musical career began with an experimental, mix media group called "Tone Field ...

, composer *

Satomi Satō is a Japanese voice actress and singer. Biography Satō was previously affiliated with Aoni Production's Junior Talent. She attended Tokyo Announce Gakuin Performing Arts College. She is known as , as means "sugar" in Japanese. On April 1, 2 ...

, voice actress *

, figure skater and

Champion (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

) *

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer of soundtracks for anime series, Video game, video games, Japanese television drama, television dramas and movies. She has written scores for ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''Terror in Resonance'', ''Gho ...

, composer * Ayumi Ishida, member of girl-group Morning Musume '17 *

Ai Fukuhara is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic medalist, winning silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Japanese women's team. She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways. Table tennis career Fuku ...

, table tennis player *

Tomokazu Harimoto is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is ranked No. 4 in the ITTF rankings. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014. He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table T ...

, table tennis player * Shun Sato, figure skater and 2019

Junior Grand Prix Final The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final (titled the ISU Junior Series Final in the 1997–98 season) is the final event of a series of junior-level competitions – the ISU Junior Grand Prix – organized by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medal ...

Champion *

Dash Chisako , better known by her ring name , is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She was trained by Meiko Satomura and has worked for her Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion since ...

Wrestler in sendai girls pro wrestling *

Sendai Sachiko is a retired Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . She was trained by Meiko Satomura and made her debut for her Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, prom ...

former wrestler in sendai girls pro wrestling *

Mone Chiba is a Japanese figure skating, figure skater. She is the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, 2025 World bronze medalist, the 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2024 Four Continents champion, the 2023 Four Continents Figure S ...

, figure skater * Sasaki Toyoju, feminist and anti-prostitution activist * Sandwichman, comedy duo consisting of

Mikio Date is a Japanese comedian who performs ''tsukkomi'' of the double act Sandwichman. He has origins from the Ōedashi's Shoryū Date clan. He was born from Izumi-shi (now Izumi-ku, Sendai), Miyagi Prefecture. He is represented with Grape Company. H ...

and Takeshi Tomizawa

References

External links

*
Official Website

Sendai traveling information
{{Authority control Cities in Miyagi Prefecture Populated places established in 1600 Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan