Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [400]
30View (Map; 267-8818; 4-6-1 Chūō, Aoba-ku, 30th fl, SS30; cocktails from ¥1000; 11am-1am) Everything tastes better at lofty heights, especially when it’s a perfectly crafted signature cocktail. Occupying the 30th floor of the SS30 Building, 30View is one of the best nightspots in the city to peer out at the twinkling lights of Sendai’s cityscape. English menu available.
Entertainment
The Kokubunchō area is Tōhoku’s largest entertainment district, as noisy and as bright as you might expect, with endless hole-in-the-wall seedy clubs, strip shows and hostess bars. If you’re not the type who pays to play, get an entertainment listing from the tourist information centre as clubs tend to come and go quickly in these parts.
One perennial party venue is Club Shaft (Map; 722-5651; www.clubshaft.com; 4th fl, Yoshiokaya Dai 3 Bldg, Kokubunchō, Aoba-ku), which attracts all manners of the young and beautiful. From American hip-hop and European house to British cheese and crunked-out J-pop, you’re gonna have a great time here, and most likely regret it once the morning hangover kicks in.
Getting There & Away
AIR
From Sendai airport, 18km south of the city centre, flights head to/from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Sapporo and many other destinations. For international flights, Click here.
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HOT HONSHŪ ONSEN
Naruko Onsen
Sukayu Onsen
Nyūtō Onsen
Zaō Onsen
Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen
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BOAT
From the port of Sendai-kō, Taiheyo Ferry (259-0211) runs one daily ferry to Tomakomai on Hokkaidō (from ¥8100, 15 hours), and three to four ferries per week to Nagano (from ¥72,000, 21 hours). There is a small ticket office at the pier.
To get to Sendai-kō, take a futsū (local) train on the JR Senseki line to Tagajō station (¥230); it’s then a 10-minute taxi ride. There are also five direct buses from stop 34 at Sendai station, but only until 6pm (¥490, 40 minutes).
BUS
JR and Tohoku Kyuko highway buses depart from the east terminal of the train station. Here, you will find a small ticket booth where you can purchase tickets to major cities throughout Japan. Some sample destinations, which have frequent daily departures from Sendai, include: Tokyo (¥6210, six hours), Morioka (¥2850, three hours), Akita (¥4000, four hours), Aomori (¥5700, five hours) and Niigata (¥4500, four hours).
CAR
If you’re just arriving in Tohokū, Sendai is a good place to pick up a rental car and start road-tripping across the region. The recommended Toyota Rent a Car (291-0100; 2-4-8 Tsutsujygaoka; 8am-8pm) has a branch office a few blocks east of the station. The Tōhoku Expressway () runs between Tokyo and the greater Sendai area.
TRAIN
There are hourly trains on the JR Tōhoku shinkansen between Tokyo and Sendai (¥10,590, two hours), and between Sendai and Morioka (¥6290, 45 minutes). There are frequent kaisoku on the JR Senzan line between Sendai and Yamagata (¥1110, 1¼ hours), as well as on the JR Senseki line between Sendai and Matsushima-kaigan (¥400, 35 minutes).
Getting Around
Airport limousines (¥700, 40 minutes) depart from the JR Sendai station frequently for the airport between 6.25am and 6.40pm.
The Loople tourist trolley leaves from the west bus pool’s stop 15-3 every 30 minutes from 9am to 4pm, taking a useful loop around the city in a clockwise direction (¥250 per ride). A one-day pass costs ¥600 and comes with an English-language booklet detailing the bus route and sightseeing discounts for pass holders. Passes can be purchased from the station.
Sendai’s single subway line runs from Izumi-chūō in the north to Tomizawa in the south but doesn’t cover any tourist attractions; single tickets cost ¥200 to ¥350.
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MATSUSHIMA & OKU-MATSUSHIMA
022 / pop 20,000
Centuries ago, the haiku poet Bashō had initial misgivings about journeying through Tōhoku. Although he famously lamented: ‘I may as well be travelling to the ends of the earth’, the north’s special charms eventually rendered him lost for words. Upon his encounter with Matsushima Bay, Bashō wrote: ‘Matsushima, ah! Matsushima!