Sendai is one of the largest cities in the northern part of Japan. It is located on the Japanese Pacific coast as the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. Sendai’s history began in the year 1600, when daimyō Date Masamune founded the city as a replacement for his original seat in Iwadeyama, which was too difficult to reach from Edo. Date Masamune started the construction of a castle in the new Sendai with the permission of Tokugawa Ieyasu after Masamune’s loyalty and struggle during the Battle of Sekigahara.

Sendai arose as a city around Date Masamune’s new castle, and the street network of modern Sendai basically derives from Masamune’s town plan from the foundation. The city grew over the centuries as a regional seat of administration, and with the opening of the railway from Tokyo in 1887, Sendai was suddenly closer connected to the capital, fueling new growth. In 1907, Tōhoku Imperial University opened. When Sendai became a city in Japan’s new administrative division in 1889, 86,000 people lived in the city.

The 20th century saw both growth and destruction in Sendai. In 1925, a railway line opened as the first underground line in Asia, two years earlier than the opening of Tokyo’s first subway line. During World War II, American bombings on July 10, 1945, left large parts of Sendai’s old town in ruins, and 2,755 of the city’s population were killed. Subsequently, the city was rebuilt with modern buildings, and Sendai is today a city home to millions.

Sendai is known as the city with many trees. You quickly find out why when you walk through Sendai’s central streets, where the Japanese zelkova trees line the city. However, the tradition of many trees goes back to the daimyō era, when the citizens of the city were encouraged to plant trees to secure supplies for their own consumption. There are also several parks in the city, and they are used by both locals and tourists as recreational areas.

You can start a stroll in Sendai with a walk along the main streets Jozenji-Dori/定禅寺通力 and Aoba-Dori/青葉通助, where you can see the city’s famous trees. You can make a tour of Sendai’s early history with a visit to the ruins of Date Masamune’s old castle in the city, which gives an impression of the large complex from which the city’s daimyōs ruled. You can also see Zuihōden, which is the name of Date Masamune’s grave site and monument. Another site from Sendai’s early history is Sendai Tōshōgū/仙台東的宮, a Shinto shrine for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period.

There are several museums in Sendai, where Sendai City Museum/仙台市博物館 is a good place to start if you want to learn more about the history of the city and see more historical objects from the time of Date Masamune and subsequently within his clan. At the Miyagi Art Museum/宮城県美行达館, you can enjoy a lot of regional art not least from Miyagi Prefecture, but there are also other works and exhibitions. You can also get closer to life in the Japanese gardens at the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium/仙台うみの杜水族館.