tohokuprefecture
Miyagi
Miyagi is a prefecture on the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region, home to Sendai, the largest city of northern Honshu, and to the bay of Matsushima, about ninety minutes from Tokyo by the Tohoku Shinkansen.
- Prefecture
- Miyagi
- Region
- Tohoku
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
The city of a one-eyed lord, a bay of pine islands, and onsen in the hills behind.
Miyagi is the gateway to the north. Its capital, Sendai, was founded in 1600 by Date Masamune, the warlord known as the One-Eyed Dragon, who made it the seat of one of the richest domains in Japan, and it is now a green, gracious city of a million people, its avenues lined with zelkova trees. The Date lords left a legacy of lacquered mausoleums and shrines in the Momoyama style, rich in gold and colour, and the city's food, beef tongue grilled over charcoal and sweet pounded edamame, is known across Japan.
Half an hour from the city, the bay of Matsushima is scattered with some 260 small islands of pale rock topped with pine, and since the seventeenth century it has been counted among the Three Views of Japan. Basho came here in 1689 and was famously lost for words. On the shore stand Zuigan-ji, the great Zen temple of the Date family, and the small hall of Godaido on its islet.
Behind the coast, the land rises to the Ou mountains and a ring of onsen towns: Akiu, which once received the court; Sakunami, where Nikka built its Miyagikyo distillery in 1969; and Naruko, in a deep gorge in the north, the home of the kokeshi doll. The bays of the coast give Miyagi some of the best oysters in Japan.
see and do
What to see in Miyagi
Sendai
The castle town of the Date lords, with Masamune's mounted statue on the site of Aoba Castle above the city, the zelkova avenue of Jozenji-dori and the Osaki Hachimangu shrine of 1607, a National Treasure in lacquer and gold.
Zuihoden
The mausoleum of Date Masamune, on a cedar-covered hill above the Hirose River, rebuilt in its original Momoyama splendour of black lacquer, gold and bright carving.
Matsushima Bay
Some 260 islands of white rock and twisted pine, one of the Three Views of Japan, seen from a boat crossing the bay or from the hills of Sokanzan and Saigyo Modoshi no Matsu above it.
Zuigan-ji
The Zen temple of the Date clan at Matsushima, rebuilt by Masamune in 1609, with sliding doors painted in gold, a main hall that is a National Treasure, and caves carved into the cliffs where monks once meditated.
Godaido and Kanrantei
Godaido is a small hall of 1604 on an islet joined to the shore by red bridges, and Kanrantei, a teahouse of the Date lords, looks out over the bay, where matcha is served on the veranda.
Akiu Onsen and Akiu Great Falls
An onsen town half an hour from Sendai, once the hot spring of the court, and above it the Akiu Otaki, a broad waterfall of some fifty metres.
Nikka Miyagikyo Distillery
The second distillery of Nikka, founded in 1969 where two rivers meet in the hills at Sakunami, chosen for its water and its mist, and open for tours and tastings.
Naruko Onsen and Gorge
An onsen town of many springs in the north of the prefecture, famous for its kokeshi dolls, turned and painted by hand, and for the deep Naruko Gorge beside it.
Shiogama Shrine
The great shrine of the coast above the port of Shiogama, approached by a long stone stair through cedars, protector of the sea.
experiences
The best of Miyagi
Matsushima by private boat
The bay of pine islands seen from a boat steered for your party alone, threading between the islands, with lunch of the bay's oysters at the shore afterwards.
Tea at Kanrantei
A bowl of matcha and a seasonal sweet on the veranda of the Date lords' teahouse, with the islands of the bay laid out before you.
Whisky in the hills
An afternoon at the Miyagikyo distillery with a specialist who explains the stills, the casks and the blending, and a tasting of single malts that are hard to find outside Japan.
The kokeshi makers
A morning in Naruko with a craftsman who turns and paints kokeshi dolls on the lathe, in a style passed down in his family, before an onsen and lunch in the gorge.
plan your visit
Miyagi on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two or three nights: one or two in Sendai or at Akiu Onsen, and a night at Matsushima or Naruko, with Yamadera an easy day across the border in Yamagata.
- Getting there
- By the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai in about ninety minutes. Matsushima is about forty minutes from Sendai by train or car, Akiu Onsen about thirty minutes by car, and Sendai Airport has flights from across Japan.
- Pairs well with
- Miyagi is the natural start of a journey through the north: Sendai and Matsushima first, then north to Hiraizumi or west across the mountains to Yamadera and Ginzan Onsen.SendaiMatsushimaHiraizumiYamaderaGinzan OnsenYamagata
journeys
Miyagi on a private journey
We bring guests to Miyagi on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Miyagi: questions answered
What is Miyagi famous for?
Miyagi is famous for the city of Sendai and its founder Date Masamune, the bay of Matsushima, its onsen towns, beef tongue, oysters and the kokeshi dolls of Naruko.
How do you get from Tokyo to Sendai?
By the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station, about ninety minutes on the fastest trains.
How far is Matsushima from Sendai?
About forty minutes by train on the Senseki Line or by car, so it is easily seen in a day from Sendai, though a night by the bay is worth having.
Why is Matsushima one of the Three Views of Japan?
Its bay of some 260 pine-topped islands was named among the Three Views of Japan in the seventeenth century, alongside Amanohashidate and Miyajima, for the beauty of the islands against the water.
How many days do you need in Miyagi?
Two or three nights cover Sendai, Matsushima and an onsen town in the hills, and Yamadera or Hiraizumi can be added as a day from Sendai.
Can Miyagi be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Miyagi included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Miyagi, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Miyagi, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.