Aside from a brief dash through Tokyo’s main rail station, I received my first real sense of Japan in Sendai. I journeyed there to visit two of my friends who were teaching in an international school in the city and had the opportunity to explore the city while they were at work. After dropping my luggage at my hotel, I hopped on the Loople bus to see the sites.

The first stop was at the ruins of Sendai Castle. Unfortunately very little remains on this site of the original 17th century castle. However, as you can see from the pictures here, the vista beyond the castle is simply spectacular. You can see the entire city laid out below.

The coastal parts of Sendai were impacted by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated this part of Japan. The damage reached up to five miles inland. The city has been undergoing a slow recovery since the earthquake and tsunami.

Check back tomorrow for details about my visit to the Ōsaki Hachimangū Shrine, also in Sendai.

Title quote: Sendai’s nickname