Things to Do in Sendai, Japan: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Sendai include exploring historic parks, museums, art institutions and distinctive landmarks such as Sendai Daikannon. As the capital of Miyagi Prefecture and one of the major cities of Japan’s Tōhoku region, Sendai offers a varied introduction to northern Japan, from the former Sendai Castle site to memorials, science museums and cultural collections. Neywo has a free audio guide for Sendai with 39 narrated places.

What to see in Sendai

Nishi Park

Nishi Park is a spacious urban park on the left bank of the Hirose River and one of the places that symbolizes Sendai, together with Aobayama Park and Jozenji-dori. Opened in 1875, it is the city’s oldest urban park. It was originally called Sakuragaoka Park, but its position on the western side of the town led people to call it Nishi Park, a name that later became official.

The park’s riverside setting and broad green landscape make it a natural stop while exploring central Sendai. It is also included in Neywo’s walking route focused on Date Masamune’s castle town.

Aobayama Park

Aobayama Park stretches from the eastern edge of Mount Aobayama to the right bank of the Hirose River. Part of the former Sendai Castle site lies within the park, connecting its green spaces with the city’s history.

Two ponds, Goshikinuma and Naganuma, are remnants of the moat that once surrounded Sendai Castle, also known as Aoba Castle. The park is one of the stops on the “Date Masamune’s Castle Town” walk.

Miyagi Museum of Art

The Miyagi Museum of Art is one of Sendai’s important homes for modern and contemporary art. Its collections focus particularly on artists connected with Miyagi Prefecture and the wider Tōhoku region, while also including works created outside Japan.

The building itself is part of the experience. Kunio Maekawa designed the main building, and the separate Sato Churyo Memorial Hall displays works by the sculptor Sato Churyo. The memorial hall opened in 1990. The museum has been undergoing renovation since June 19, 2023, because its facilities had aged.

Kamei Museum

In the Itsutsubashi area, the Kamei Museum—also known as Gallery Kupukupu—brings together art and collections connected with Kamei. Its displays include paintings and sculptures donated or entrusted by Kamei.

The museum also presents part of the butterfly collection assembled by Bunzo Kamei, a former Kamei chairman and director of the Kamei Foundation for Social Education. It is one of the stops on Neywo’s “Cherry Hill, Poets and Anpanman” walk.

Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall

Near the intersection of Hirose-dori and Ban-sui-dori, the Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall commemorates the city’s reconstruction after the Sendai Air Raid. Also known as Sendai-shi Sensai Fukko Kinenkan, the public facility adds an important historical perspective to a walk through the city centre.

Sendai Literature Museum

The Sendai Literature Museum, or Sendai Bungakukan, is devoted to modern literature connected with Sendai and Miyagi Prefecture. Opened in 1999, it collects and exhibits materials associated with writers and literature from the region.

Hisashi Inoue, who served as the museum’s first director for eight years, is one of the important figures in its history. The museum offers a way to explore Sendai through the writers and literary culture associated with the city and prefecture.

Sendai 3.11 Memorial

Inside Arai Station, the Sendai 3.11 Memorial preserves and shares memories of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The facility provides a place to learn how the experience is remembered in Sendai.

Its location within the station building makes it part of the city’s everyday landscape, while its subject connects Sendai with one of the defining events in the recent history of the region.

Sendai City Science Museum

The Sendai City Science Museum stands within Dainohara Forest Park, bringing science education into a forested setting. The institution began in 1952 as Sendai’s science education facility, known as the Science Room, and opened as the Sendai City Science Museum in 1968.

Since April 1, 2025, its nickname has been HOKUSHU Sendai City Science Museum. It is a useful stop for visitors interested in science and the way the city presents knowledge beyond its historical and artistic attractions.

Sendai Astronomical Observatory

In Nishikigaoka, in Sendai’s Aoba Ward, the Sendai Astronomical Observatory offers a place to explore astronomy and the changing experience of the night sky. It first opened in 1955 and was donated to the city of Sendai in 1956. The facility moved to its present location in 2008.

The observatory’s planetarium is one of its highlights. Its renewal was completed in spring 2023, creating an updated setting for experiencing the universe.

Sendai Anpanman Children’s Museum and Mall

The Sendai Anpanman Children’s Museum and Mall, known in Japanese as 仙台アンパンマンこどもミュージアム&モール, is a theme park dedicated to Anpanman. It is located in Sendai’s Miyagino Ward and forms part of Neywo’s “Cherry Hill, Poets and Anpanman” walking route.

Sendai Daikannon

The vast white-robed figure of Sendai Daikannon rises above the grounds of Daikanmitsuji Temple. Officially called the Sendai Tendou Byakue Daikannon, the statue represents Byakue Kannon, the white-robed bodhisattva of compassion. She holds a cintamani, or wish-fulfilling jewel, in one hand.

The monument itself is 92 metres tall, while its pedestal brings the total height to 100 metres. Visitors can also experience the statue from inside: the first floor contains large statues of Buddha and mythical kings, and an elevator reaches the twelfth level before the route descends by stairs and ramps. Eight Buddhas appear on each level in wooden cabinets, making 108 in total.

When completed, Sendai Daikannon was the tallest statue in the world. It was surpassed by the Ushiku Daibutsu in 1993, but its immense scale remains the defining sight of the temple complex.

More places to explore around Sendai

Sendai is the capital of Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. Miyagi also includes the Matsushima Islands, near the town of Matsushima. Counted among the Three Views of Japan, the islands are one of the prefecture’s most memorable landscapes.

The city is also home to Tohoku University, a major national research university headquartered in Aoba Ward. Established in 1907 as Japan’s third Imperial University, it first focused on science and medicine before expanding into the humanities. Its research is particularly associated with materials science, physics and communications. In 2024, NanoTerasu began operating at the Aobayama campus, and Tohoku University became the first university in Japan to be recognized as an International Excellence Research University.

Explore Sendai with Neywo

Looking for a Sendai self-guided walking tour? Neywo offers two walking tours in the city, with narration available in 11 languages:

• Date Masamune’s Castle Town: 5.19 km, 117 minutes and 8 narrated stops. The route includes Aobayama Park, Sendai Castle, Aoba Castle Museum, Zuihōden, Bashō no Tsuji, Sendai City War Reconstruction Memorial Hall, Nishi Park and the Miyagi Museum of Art.
• Cherry Hill, Poets and Anpanman: 4.35 km, 98 minutes and 6 narrated stops. Stops include the Kamei Museum, しょくぱんまん像, Sendai Anpanman Children’s Museum and Mall, Tsutsujigaoka Park, Sendai City Museum of History and Folklore and Miyagi Baseball Stadium.

Download Neywo and explore Sendai at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule.