Getting Around Sendai

Getting Around Sendai

Sendai is the largest city in the Tōhoku region and its main transportation and logistics hub, rebuilt after World War II around major arteries including the Tōhoku Expressway and the Tōhoku Shinkansen. For a visitor, that legacy shows up as a compact, well-connected city centre with a mix of subway, rail, bus, taxi and walking options. The central grid plan still follows the layout laid out when Date Masamune founded the castle town in the early 1600s, which helps make the core easy to navigate.

Subway

Sendai has two subway lines, and they form the backbone of quick movement around the city.

• Namboku Line — runs north–south and connects major shopping districts with the train station. Key stops include Sendai (for the train station and the AER building), Nagamachi-minami (for a large American-style shopping mall with a multi-screen cinema), Hirose-dori and Kotodai-koen (for access to the covered Ichibancho shopping arcade), and Izumi-chuo (for the soccer stadium).
• Tozai Line — runs east–west across the city.

Between them, the two lines cover the main axes of the city and link the station area with shopping, entertainment and stadium districts.

Rail and the Airport Access Line

Sendai is a major station on the Tōhoku Shinkansen, and the line continues north toward Morioka, Aomori and on to Hokkaido Shinkansen services to Hakodate. The city is also served by conventional JR lines, including the Senseki Line, which historically included the first underground railway segment in Japan. For visitors, the most relevant rail link is the Sendai Airport Access railway, covered below.

Buses

Sendai is covered by a bus network, with routes and timetables available through Google Maps and other services. A few practical points:

• In some places buses are infrequent, with waits of up to half an hour, and they tend to get very crowded at rush hour.
• Normal route buses charge fares based on distance travelled.
• There are two major bus companies, but for all practical purposes they are indistinguishable to a visitor.

Loople Sendai

For sightseeing, the Loople Sendai bus makes a wide loop around various Sendai attractions. It is the easiest bus option for tourists, but note its limitations:

• The loop runs in only one direction, and service ends by 17:00.
• The buses are small and can get very crowded on weekends and in summer.
• You can buy a day ticket, use a Sendai Area Pass, or pay as you go with an IC card.

Tickets and travelcards

Travelcards — commonly called "bus cards" in both English and Japanese, even though they can also be used on the subway — are available and offer a slight discount. You can also pay fares with an IC card.

Taxis and Ride-Hailing

Taxis are a practical option in Sendai, particularly for reaching places off the subway and bus lines. The ferry terminal, for example, is a short taxi ride from Nakanosakae Station on the JR Senseki Line.

Bicycles

Bicycles can be rented through a service called Date Bike. You will need internet access to rent one, and the Date Bike website lists a few interesting cycling itineraries — the explanations are in Japanese, but the maps are understandable.

Walking

The city centre is compact and can easily be traversed on foot, especially by using the covered shopping arcades. There are many shops and arcades around Sendai Station, so you can walk around on your own quite comfortably. Two caveats:

• Other parts of the city are quite hilly — even the centre has some significant slopes — so while they can still be traversed on foot, it may be physically demanding.
• Residential parts are very spread out, and walking such large distances becomes impractical.

Sendai's nickname, the "City of Trees," comes from the Japanese zelkova trees lining many main thoroughfares such as Jōzenji Street and Aoba Street, which makes walking the central streets pleasant in good weather.

Getting from Sendai Airport into the City

Sendai Airport (SDJ) is the largest airport in Tōhoku, with regional services to South Korea, Taiwan, China and Bangkok, as well as domestic flights from Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Kanazawa (Komatsu).

• By rail: The airport is linked to the city by the Sendai Airport Access railway, which runs from JR Sendai Station. Services run every 20–30 minutes.
• By bus: The airport also has direct long-distance buses to Yamagata and Tsuruoka, and — in ski season only — services to major ski resorts including Zao Onsen and Appi Kogen.

For most visitors heading to central Sendai, the Airport Access railway is the straightforward choice, connecting the airport directly to JR Sendai Station, which is itself the hub for the subway, JR lines and the shinkansen.

Arriving in Sendai

Sendai is often viewed as out of the way, but it is a short shinkansen ride from Tokyo, or a one-hour flight followed by a transfer of less than half an hour to the city centre. It is closer to Tokyo than Kyoto, and is far less crowded with tourists, since it is marketed almost exclusively to domestic and intra-Asian tourism.

• By shinkansen: Sendai is a major station on the Tōhoku Shinkansen. The most frequent service from Tokyo is the all-reserved Hayabusa, which makes only a few stops. The Komachi service bound for Akita is coupled to the Hayabusa train — note that Komachi cars are slightly narrower, and so is the seating. The more frequent Yamabiko services are a good alternative if you have more time or the faster trains are sold out; they serve more stations, so expect a longer journey. A few all-reserved Hayate services also remain on the route. The Japan Rail Pass and JR East Rail Pass are valid for Ordinary and Green Cars on all of these bullet trains; the premium first-class "GranClass" on the Hayabusa requires an extra fare.
• By conventional rail: The Joban Line runs between Sendai and Tokyo, and some limited express Hitachi services terminate at Sendai, though as a non-high-speed service the journey takes considerably longer.
• By highway bus: Many highway buses run to Sendai from various locations in the Tōhoku region. JR Bus Tohoku and Tohoku Kyuko operate services from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, with daytime and overnight trips. The same companies run a line to Niigata across the mountains, and an overnight service runs directly from Yokohama and Shinagawa. Kintetsu runs an overnight service, the Forest, from Osaka and Kyoto. Willer Express offers nightly bus services from Tokyo with an English online booking service. Meitetsu runs an overnight service from Sendai to Nagoya.
• By boat: Taiheiyo Ferry offers overnight car ferries to Nagoya and Tomakomai in southern Hokkaido. The ferry terminal is a ten-minute taxi ride from Nakanosakae Station on the JR Senseki Line, and is also not far from the Sendai-ko kita interchange on the Sendai Tobu Highway.

Practical Summary

For a visitor, the most useful tools are the two subway lines for crossing the city, the Loople Sendai bus for sightseeing, and the covered shopping arcades for walking the centre. Buy an IC card or a travelcard for buses and subway, and use the Sendai Airport Access railway to connect the airport to JR Sendai Station. Beyond the compact centre, expect hills, spread-out residential districts and less frequent buses — so plan on combining walking with the subway, buses or taxis rather than relying on any single mode.