Here we will introduce a recommended course for sightseeing in Sendai and the surrounding coastal area.
In addition to activities in Matsushima, regarded as one of Japan‘s three most scenic spots, and a visit to a facility where you will learn about the Great East Japan Earthquake, you can also enjoy delicious local cuisine including seafood. Come and experience the charm of Sendai and Miyagi’s coastal area!
Recommended Course
- Day One (Using Public Transportation)
- 10:00 a.m. Sendai Station
- Take the JR Senseki Line ane get off at Higashi-Shiogama Station. (31 min.).
You can request a shuttle to Kaname.(10 min). - 11:00 a.m. 1. Seaweed harvesting & wakame seaweed shabu-shabu experience at Harbour House Kaname (120 min.) [Lunch]
- Take the JR Senseki Line at Higashi-Shiogama Station and get off at Matsushima Kaigan Station. (8 min.).
- 2:00 p.m. 2. Matsushima walking tour and cruise (180 min.)
- Take the JR Senseki Line at Matsushima Kaigan Station and get off at Sendai Station. (39min.).
- 6:00 p.m. 3-4. Seafood cuisine or Sendai beef (120 min.) [Dinner]
- 【Accommodation】Hotel in Sendai City
- –Day Two(Rental Car)-
- 08:00 Sendai city hotel
- By car (60 min.)
- 09:00 5. Shiogama Seafood Wholesale Market(60 min.) [Breakfast]
- By car (10 min.)
- 10:30 6. Sendai Arahama Elementary School (40 min.)
- By car (10 min.)
- 12:00 7. Date no Beef Tongue Honpo Rokuchonome Higashi Inter branch (60 min.) [Lunch]
- By car (10 min.)
- 13:00 8. Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium (120 min.)
- By car (5min.)
- 15:45 9. Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port (90 min.)
- By car (30 min.)
- 18:00 Sendai Station
－ DAY1 －
1. Experience of seaweed harvest & wakame seaweed shabu-shabu at Minshuku Harbour House Kaname.(120 min.)
This tour takes you around the beautiful islands of Omote Matsushima where you can pick fresh seaweed while interacting with local fishermen. You can enjoy the seaweed you collect as shabu-shabu hot pot on the boat. The seaweed of Omote Matsushima, grown in the gentle waves, is very soft and suitable for shabu-shabu.
Outside of the wakame seaweed season (February to April), the fishing experience tour is recommended.
| Hours | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
| Closed | Unfixed |
| Price | From 4,000 yen |
| Access | Shuttle available |
| Reservation | Email (kaname555wisdom@gmail.com) in advance |
| Address | 98 Suga, Akanuma, Rifu-cho, Miyagi-gun, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-366-7006 (Japanese only) |
| URL of facility | https://www.harbourkaname.jp/ |
2. Matsushima sightseeing and cruise（180 min.）
● Matsushima sihghtseeing boat ride
After lunch, why not take a sightseeing cruise around the islands of Matsushima Bay?
This 50-minute, 17-km course offers a close-up view of the 260 islands of various sizes in the bay. The highlight of the tour is getting to see the unique shape of the islands and scenery of Matsushima Bay in a way that is impossible from the shore.
Each operator has a different route. For those wanting an even better view during the tour, the second floor seats (extra charge) are recommended.
| Hours | ①Marubun Matsushima Kisen Co., Ltd. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ②Matsushima Shima-meguri Kankosen Kigyo Kumiai 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
| Admission | From 1,500 yen |
| Access | 10 min. walk from JR Senseki Line Matsushima Kaigan Station |
| Address | 98-1, Matsushima-cho, Miyagi-gun,Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | ①022-365-3611 ②022-354-2233 |
| URL of facility | ① https://www.marubun-kisen.com ② https://www.matsushima.or.jp/en |
●Zuiganji Temple
Zuiganji Temple, a designated National Treasure and Important Cultural Property, is one of the most important Zen temples in northern Japan. It was originally founded in 828 AD by the legendary monk Jikaku Daishi, who also built temples in Hiraizumi and Yamadera.
This temple in its current form was rebuilt in 1609 as a family temple by Date Masamune. Because Zuiganji Temple was built following a long period of civil war, it retains features that can only be seen in castles, such as a turret and a floor which makes sounds to warn of incomers.
Zuiganji Temple is unusual for a temple, as it is surrounded by small caves where monks once lived and prayed, and avenues lined with cedar trees.
| Hours | January/December: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. February/November: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. March/October: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April to September: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Admission | Adult : 700 yen , Child : 400 yen |
| Access | 10 min. walk from JR Senseki Line Matsushima Kaigan Station |
| Address | 91 Matsushima-cho, Miyagi-gun ,Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-354-2023 |
| URL of facility | https://zuiganji.or.jp/english |
3. Seafood cuisine or Sendai beef（120 min.）
●Seasonal seafood dinner at Tachibana
Enjoy exquisite seafood dishes, prepared using local Miyagi ingredients. Especially popular is the Sendai zukedon, which makes abundant use of seafood caught in the Sanriku area. The menu also features a wide variety of dishes such as sushi rolls with a western twist.
| Hours | Tuesday to Saturday: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Dinner 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday and holidays: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Dinner 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
| Closed | Mondays |
| Price | Contact restaurant directly |
| Access | 1 min. walk from Sendai Subway Aoba Dori Ichibancho Station |
| Address | 5F Tachibana Building, 3-3-25, Ichibancho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-223-3706 |
| URL | https://www.tachibana-sushi.com/English |
●Top quality Sendai beef dinner Steak House Iseya S-Pal branch
Only beef that has received the highest rank and has passed strict standards regarding the balance between marbling and lean meat, as well as for fineness of texture, can earn the title of “Sendai Beef.” Iseya‘s charcoal-grilled steak is made from the finest sirloin and fillet which are grilled over charcoals using Iseya’s unique seasoning. Iseya’s steaks are cooked with the utmost care so that each and every customer is fully satisfied.
| Hours | Monday to Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Lunch 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) |
| Price | Contact restaurant directly |
| Access | Directly connected to JR Sendai Station |
| Address | S-PAL Sendai underground restaurant area 1-1-1 Chuo, Aoba-ku, Sendai City |
| Tel | 022-262-0012 |
| URL of facility | https://iseyanet.jp/iseyaspal/ |
－ DAY 2(Using Rental Car)－
5. Shiogama Seafood Wholesale Market [Breakfast]
The Shiogama Seafood Wholesale Market is located near the Shiogama Fish Market at Shiogama Port and is the largest seafood market in Tohoku. Shiogama Port is a base for tuna fleets from Hokkaido in the north and Kyushu and Okinawa in the south, and boasts one of the largest volumes of raw tuna landed in Japan. This wholesale market is rare for Japan in that even the general public can purchase fresh seafood at wholesale prices. Visitors can also enjoy “jiyuyakiro”, where they can grill and eat seafood that they have just purchased. Another option to consider is “My kaisendon”, a seafood rice bowl that is topped with seafood purchased in the market.
| Hours | Weekdays: 3:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday: 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday: 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Business hours for each store vary. |
| Closed | Wednesdays |
| Address | 1-20-74 Shinhamacho, Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Access | Walk (15 min) from Higashi-Shiogama Station on the JR Senseki Line |
| Tel | 022-362-5518 |
| URL of facility | https://www.nakaoroshi.or.jp/lang/en |
6. Ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake : Sendai Arahama Elementary School
This facility is the former school building of Sendai City Arahama Elementary School, which was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, and is preserved and maintained as an ruin of the disaster. The museum is open to the public as a place where visitors can learn more about the strength and threat of a tsunami, from the school building that bears clear traces of the disaster and exhibits showing the situation immediately after the disaster. By seeing the damage to the building and the photos in the exhibits, visitors will hopefully get an understanding of the true power of the tsunami that hit Arahama Elementary School.
| Hours | September to June 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. July to August 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Closed | Days after public holidays and the New Year’s period. |
| Admission | Free |
| Access | Take the Sendai City Bus from Arai Station on the Subway Tozai Line (15 min.) |
| Address | 32-1 Shinhoribata, Arahama, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-355-8517 |
| URL of facility | https://arahama.sendai311-memorial.jp/ |
7. Sendai supeciality beef tongue lunch, Date no Beef Tongue Honpo Rokuchonome Higashi Inter branch
Sendai‘s signature dish is beef tongue. It is customary to grill thickly sliced beef tongue and eat it as a set with barley rice, oxtail soup, pickled vegetables, and miso nanban（pickled green chili peppers in miso).
Date no Gyutan Honpo specializes in charcoal-grilled beef tongue, which is difficult to make at home, and offers flavors that can only be achieved by a specialty store that is well versed in preparing beef tongue.
| Hours | 11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
| Price | Contact restaurant directly |
| Address | 14-85 Kitamachi, Rokuchome, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-287-5968 |
| URL of facility | https://www.dategyu.jp/restaurant/ |
8. Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium
Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium is located in the bustling commercial coastal area of eastern Sendai. It offers a variety of attractions, including a large tank that replicates the richness of the sea off the Sanriku coast, and about 100 tanks that house fish and animals from around the world. The aquarium boasts the largest scale dolphin and sea lion shows in the Tohoku region, and also offers various close-up animal encounters, such as with penguins and sea lions.with animals such as penguins and sea lions.
| Hours | 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Last admission at 5:00 p.m.) Open all year round |
| Admission | Adults: ￥2,400 Junior/ High School Students (12 to 18 years old): ￥1,700 Elementary School Students (6 to 12 years old): ￥1,200 Children (4 years old and children of preschool age): ￥700 Seniors (65 years and older): ￥1,800 |
| Access | Walk (15 min) or take a bus (7 min) from Nakanosakae Station on the JR Senseki Line. |
| Address | 4-6 Nakano, Miyagino-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Tel | 022-355-2222 |
| URL of facility | https://www.uminomori.jp |
9. Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port
Mitsui Outlet Park is a large outlet mall opened in the Sendai Port area. Visitors can enjoy shopping at popular domestic and international brand shops at prices that can only be found at an outlet. The largest Ferris wheel in Tohoku, approximately 50 meters in height, is built on the grounds and has become a symbol of the region.
| Hours | Shops: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Restaurants: 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. |
| Access | About 6 min on the Sendai-tobu Expressway from Sendai Port Interchange |
| Address | 3-7-2 Nakano, Miyagino-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| URL of facility | https://mitsui-shopping-park.com/mop/sendai/ |