Hotels in Sendai

Sendai: City of Trees

Sendai is the largest city in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshu, Japan, with a population of roughly 1.1 million. Founded as a castle town by feudal lord Date Masamune in 1600, it sits approximately 350 km north of Tokyo — about 90 minutes by Shinkansen on the Tōhoku line. The city earned the nickname "City of Trees" for its broad, zelkova-lined boulevards, most notably Jozenji-dori and Aoba-dori. Sendai Castle, also called Aobajō, crowns a forested hill above the city center and remains the defining landmark, even in partial ruin.

Visitors come for a clear mix of reasons. Food travelers seek Sendai's signature dish — gyūtan, or grilled beef tongue — served in specialist restaurants concentrated around the Ichibancho and Kokubuncho districts. Culture seekers attend the Tanabata Matsuri each August, one of Japan's largest star festivals, which draws over two million visitors in a single week. Winter visitors use Sendai as a base for Zao Onsen ski resort, roughly 60 km southwest, famous for its "snow monsters" — frost-covered trees called juhyō formed by heavy snowfall and freezing winds.

The city was severely damaged by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami; the coastal Arahama district bears visible memorials. Reconstruction has been largely completed, and the city functions as the main transport and commercial hub for the wider Tōhoku region. Sendai Airport, 18 km south of the city center, operates domestic routes and select international services to Seoul and Taipei.