Photos of Sendai City
Sendai is the prefectural capital of Miyagi Prefecture and the biggest Japanese city in the Tohoku (the northern region of Honshu, the main island). It is located about 400km north of Tokyo and can easily be reached by shinkansen (bullet train) in two and a half hours.
Currently, I am working and living in Sendai. I hope the photos below, some taken with my digital camera and others with my regular camera will give you some idea of what it is like to live in a major regional Japanese city. I have been to a few Japanese cities, and with the except of Sapporo, I would say Sendai is probably one of the greenest Japanese cities that I have ever seen.
In the heart of Sendai, there are many tree-lined roads, a most unusual sight in Japan. With a population of a little over one million, Sendai has most of the facilities that one would need and expect to find in a major regional city.
Okay, enough waffling, let's begin our visual tour of Sendai.
A view of the Aoba Hills in autumn. On foot, this part of Sendai is only about 20 minutes from Sendai Station. Hidden by the trees and just after you cross the bridge is the Sendai International Centre. If you stroll 500 metres up the road from this spot, you will find Samiyagura, the Tower Gate House and part of the outer wall of Sendai Castle.
The Sendai International Centre and downtown Sendai in the background. Once again this photo was taken in autumn at the same time as the photo above.
Cherry blossoms in Tsutsujigaoka Park. I was at the park at 6am in the morning on a slightly hazy spring day. I went so early in order to take pictures of the natural beauty of the cherry blossoms without having to deal with hordes of people. The cherry blossom viewing season is quite short. Normally, it lasts about a week and it is one of the highlights of the Japanese social calendar for the year.
Yours truly in the midst of some very colourful Tanabata displays. The paper decorations are called Tanabata. Sendai is famous for its Tanabata Festival, which is held in August. During the festival, the two main shopping malls in downtown Sendai are immersed in a sea of dangling Tanabatas. There is also a Tanabata parade. This picture was taken in August, 2000 by Maki, my ex-girlfriend and someone that I miss very much.