Japan Day 3: Sendai

January 3rd.

Instagram

My Train to Sendai leaves Tokyo Station at 6:32am, and again I'm up very early in the morning. The one thing I realized when I woke up today is that I am starving. I didn't really notice it, but I only ate one meal yesterday, which was that super amazing ramen at Kikanbo. Other than that it was little snacks here and there. I was so enveloped in having fun I didn't eat, it happens sometimes. There are days at work I'll forget to eat because I'm having so much fun. I decide to hit a late night ramen shop for breakfast, and that's this place next to my hotel called Yaro Ramen. Spicy again, lots of egg, delicious.

Yaro Ramen, Spicy w/Egg.

The train ride to Sendai is 372 km, which is almost identical distance from Boston to New York City (379km). The fastest train from Boston to New York City takes 4 hours and 8 minutes. I was on the slower train from Tokyo to Sendai, and it took 1 hour and 32 minutes, arrival 8:04am. Can you imagine if we could take the train from Boston to New York in that time? You could just YOLO a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium whenever you wanted! Man, we are so far behind when it comes to public transit in the US.

The first thing I notice on arrival to Sendai is that the Train Station itself is a mall where you can go shopping, and there are advertisements everywhere about even more shopping that can be done, so I'm going to be having a lot of fun walking around here tonight. It's very important to remember if you only have one day in a city, do all the things that close the earliest first. The stores will be open late, we can do them later, but right now the plan is hit the hotel to drop my bag, and head off to Sendai Castle.

Now I have two options, one is walk back to the station and take the train which will have me there in 28 minutesm or it's a 45 minute walk over to the Castle and routes me along the Hirose River. Chances are if I have the option to walk, I'll take it, so I did! Walking through a city is one of my favorite ways to get around, I can take my time, stop and snap photos, and really soak in everything. Busses and overground trains are great ways to see a city fast, but it's easy to miss some things along the way. If I took the train, I would have missed this rad sign warning about flooding when they open the dam:

Sendai flood warning sign.

Sendai Castle... Ruins is what I made it to when I finished my walk. It's unfortunate, but a common theme across most of the nation, but a large amount of historical sights were either severely damaged or completely destroyed during World War 2. The original stones of the castle remain in place where it once stood, and at the bottom of the hill is the Sendai City Museum which holds a large number of artifacts recovered from the site. Sadly, the museum is closed today because of the New Years Holiday celebrations. It's pretty much city by city, location by location, but some places remain open, some close for a few days, the Museum being one, and some are closed all the way through the weekend and re-open on Monday the 6th.

Panorama from Sendai Castle Ruins. Daikannon statue far left in the distance, city center, Statue of Date Masamune right.

Sendai Castle Ruins Hawk Statue

While exploring the Castle Ruins area, it gives a great panorama of the city down the hill, but I also saw a massive statue on the hill on the other side of the valley. It's the Sendai Daikannon Statue and I want to see whatever that is, so I'm going! Like most coastal Japanese cities, Sendai is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the fourth flat and open to the ocean. Two of the mountains are split by the Hirose River, so if I wanted to walk from the Castle Ruins to the big statue, I'd have to hike down close to 100m, and scale back up 100m+ again. Instead I optioned for a train ride to take me closer to the statue first, rest my legs on the way, and climb up to it.

The hike up the hill was great exercise, it took me about 45 minutes to complete from the train station, but the loop the train had me take boomeranged, so realistically I only saved about 20 minutes versus doing the whole walk, but that rest time off my feet was primo. The Daikannon Statue is HUGE and overbearing, it's one of those sights I can see for 10 minutes before I actually arrive at it, and what I learned is that it's hollow and filled with 108 Buddha statues across 12 floors. I think it only cost $5 to visit, and was well worth it!

Sendai Daikannon Statue Outside View

Sendai Daikannon Statue Inside View

After a long hike and a walk through a giant statue, my legs wanted a break, but I also wanted to head back downtown. Time wise I'm doing fine, it's only 1pm, and I've already scratched everything off my to-do list, with the exception of heading to Onagawa for ramen at Yume Wo Katare. As I mentioned earlier about places being closed for the New Year, they're included on this list, and won't be open until after I've left. That's alright though, it's just an excuse to go back to Japan!

I decided because I already did the hike, I can take a bus back to downtown, and lucky for me, I met a nice couple from England waiting at the bus stop, and they gave me the very fast 101 on riding busses in Japan. When riding a bus, you enter the back door and grab a ticket that correlates to the stop in which you entered. This ticket is dropped into the same slot you pay with the coins as you leave. How it reads a piece of paper and coins, I have no idea, it's magic! Same as the train, the longer the ride, the higher the cost. If you have an IC Card, tap on, tap off.

I said bye to my new friends after our bus ride, and I was left to wander the open markets of downtown Sendai, which sprawl and sprawl and sprawl. I had soba noodles at one of the restaurants I was walking past, and honestly, I don't remember their name and can't find them on the map, but there is so much one can do at these shops. Clothes, books, art, electronics, food, instruments, puppies, kittens, faux leather jackets, it's pretty amazing.

Marble Road Shopping Street, Sendai 

Vlandome Shopping Street, Sendai

Sendai Sunset.

Once I was all done shopping, which took several hours, it was time to head back over to the hotel and get some sleep, I made it through another rad city and had a blast. Plenty of things I'd love to see in the city when/if I come back again.

January 3 by numbers:

• Photos: 213
• Miles walked: 15.5
• Steps: 31888
• Total Calories Burned: 4999
• Bowls of Ramen: 1 (technically Soba isn't ramen, it's a fine line).

-Joe