Wandering around Sendai, Miyagi

I’ve been wanting to write about this city since loong! I may be biased a lot but it’s my all-time favorite city.

Reasons why I love Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture:

The city was founded by Date Masamune (he’s my favourite warlord in games *ahem forgive me. hahaha*)

Its mascot is onigiri wearing Date’s helmet!

Sendai’s current tourism ambassador is Yuzuru Hanyu. For Yuzu’s fan out there, Sendai city also provide a pamphlet which shows some Yuzu-related tourist destinations in the Tourist Information Center (Sendai Station), which is Goshikinuma Lake, the Monument, Ice Rink Sendai, and Nanakita Park. I went to the Ice Rink and Nanakita Park, which I’ll write about on the next post.

Miyagi’s current tourism ambassador is Hey! Say! JUMP, my favourite idol group when I was little (Deep down in my heart i still want to watch their concert like at least once in my whole life ehee)

Soo, here we go!

These are the list of Sendai city destinations you musn’t missed!

Aoba Castle (青葉城)

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Actually you won’t see any castle at all, since it has become ruins HAHA. but if you give it a bit of imagination…. (´ｖ｀) Still, it’s a popular site which you can see the Date statue and take a look of the whole city while imagining you are Masamune Date.. or his son.. or daughter.. or wife.. err. What’s interesting is, they have official cosplayers (tourism ambassadors) called Date Busyoutai which helps the tourists! The day i visited, I was greeted by Katakura Kojuro!

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If you’re a fan of sengoku warlords, they have a lot of Date clan merchandise at the shop, from the cool ones to the suuper kawaii ones. Just be sure to prepare your wallet HEHE. Also, there’s a delicious zunda soft cream shop beside the souvenir shop. It’s a must try! (By the way, zunda is sweet soybean paste special from Sendai). You can also buy a Date-clan omamori charm in the shrine near there.

Zuihoden (瑞鳳殿)

It’s the mausoleum of Date Masamune and his heirs. The complex was beautiful–judging it from the image on google LOL. Too bad I didn’t manage to get there on the last visit, BUT i’ll definitely go there the next time!

Rinno-ji (輪王寺)

The path to the temple is surrounded by greeneries, it really has a peaceful atmosphere. Not really much to do in there, but it’s a great, great place to stop for a while and enjoy the nature.

What to eat?

Definitely try the zunda mochi! Or, another zunda-flavored snacks. They also sell limited edition zunda-flavored Kinoko no Yama (japanese chocolate biscuits) and other famous snacks brands.

Hagi no Tsuki. It’s a popular souvenirs from Sendai, which is a sponge cake filled with custard cream. It’s delicious, but only have short expired date (for only a week or two), so be sure not to forget to eat it :”’)

Gyu Tan (Grilled beef tongue). This is also Sendai’s popular menu! You can get it anywhere, even there’s some gyu-tan restaurant in Sendai Station. (Actually, I… don’t really like it hehee but it’s a matter of personal taste, the sauce is just a bit odd to me)

Where to stay?

I stayed with my friend in a capsule hotel named 9 hours, and it’s really nice and cheap! (Forgive me i forgot the exact price >.<). It’s quite near from Sendai station, although we must walk a bit–but it’s accesible. It’s also near the bus stop so we can start our journey right from the front of our hotel.

Overall Impression of Sendai

The city is beautiful. It has a lot of greeneries, parks, statues, etc. There’re a lot of high stories buildings filled with popular shops near the station. The only tiny drawback.. is the transportation system. The buses schedule and route weren’t sync with the one in google maps, so we frequently lost our tracks like how to get somewhere XD My suggestion is, study your route few times before you go, and don’t be shy to ask other people whether you’re on the right route or not（＾ω＾）

Also, if you need more kawaii supplies to fill your days, let’s join my journey and seek kawaii things together all around the world!

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