On my recent travel to the north of Japan, we briefly stopped at Sendai, a big city in the Tohoku Region. Sendai is more or less 2 hours away from Tokyo by bullet train. Almost everywhere in Japan, you'll see castles built in the past and maintained til now. But we could not find the castle when we arrived at Sendai Castle. Where is the Sendai Castle?
From Sendai Station, we took a taxi to Sendai Castle, also known as Aoba Castle. In Sendai, there's a Loople bus that would take you to different tourist attractions in the city, mostly historical attractions because Sendai is rich in history. We didn't take the bus because our time in Sendai was limited and because I was with my 3 friends, the taxi was perfect for us.
We didn't realize the castle would be far from the city, going up to the Aoba mountain. We enjoyed the view though, as we passed by Tohoku University and compared it to the universities in our hometown. It's so big and uphill like the university I attended during college.
During that 15-minute taxi ride, we did not see the Loople bus, either we were on a different route which I doubt, or there are only a few running per day. So if you're planning to take the bus, make sure to check the schedule.
When we arrived, we saw this black bird alone on the snowy path.
It came from behind of this statue.
There were other statues nearby too. This guy was the poet of 荒城の月 (read as Kojo No Tsuki). The masterpiece can be read in Wikipedia but all information is in Japanese. It's said to be of historical importance in Japan.
We also saw this statue of Aichi Koichi who's a politician.
The castle grounds were covered in snow.
A castle is too big to disappear overnight. This is not some kind of anime or fantasy show where everything just disappears and appears on a whim. 😅 Turns out, Sendai Castle is still called such even when the castle is in ruins. I was actually surprised to see only the lot where it once stood. And the snow didn't help.
According to Wikipedia, the castle withstood major earthquakes and fires but was only completely ruined during the Bombing of Sendai in World War II. It used to be the administrative office of the Date clan.
Good news, you can go back to the past and see how the castle looks when you avail of the VR googles from the museum. We didn't though, maybe next time.
If you checked the map, there were so many gates (Otemon) surrounding the main hall.
The main reason why I wanted to come here is not because of the castle but because of the iconic statue of Date Masamune, who's famous in the many historical Japanese dramas. To be honest, I don't know much about him but I would like to know more about Japan's history including him because he seems like an important character in the Tohoku Region. Let's read the Wikipedia together. 😂
Talk about bad timing, the statue was under construction at that time. I just wanted to see the famous Feudal Lord in his horse. I guess this means I should be back to see it after its improvements. I think they were trying to change the pillar into a more sophisticated one.
Nevertheless, we still enjoyed our time in the castle grounds because it's overlooking Sendai City. There were only a few skyscrapers in Sendai which I like, compared to Tokyo.
We could also see a great white statue of Sendai Daikannon in the mountains. According to Wikipedia, it's the 5th tallest statue in the world. No wonder we could see it standing tall as if looking at and protecting the city.
Miyagiken Gokoku Shrine (宮城縣護國神社) was on the Aoba grounds and we had time so we explored the shrine. The shrine was built for the souls who died in the war.
Just like any other shrines and temples, there's the cleansing area and charms corner. The water turned to ice though because of the cold.
I didn't mean to read the prayers written here but sorry, I read it. 😅 Many prayers were asking for girlfriends and love encounters. I hope these people won't be lonely this Valentines.
You can get fortunes here too. There were so many kinds, even for your pets.
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Even when I already got my fortune for this year, I still got one here. Why? Because this thing made me curious and piqued my interest.
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It gets my fortune and dances and drops my fortune in the hole near it so I could fetch it in the dispenser.
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It's not so bad but I still tied it because it's fun that way. Also, the images of the Chinese zodiac was interesting so I had to find mine.
More prayers but this time it's in gourds.
And a lot of them.
Around the shrine there were some structures that we could not make of because it's closed or covered in snow.
The main gate (Otemon) can be seen from the bridge. It's a big structure and guarded on both sides.
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Near the bridge was this building, which I think was the museum on the upper floor and the cafeteria and souvenir shop on the ground.
We were so relaxed thinking lots of taxis were waiting for us but there were none the time we decided to go back. Taxis had to be called but good thing, a taxi driver already accepted us in Uber so we just had to wait.
While waiting for the taxi, we were exploring the grounds nearby but had to restrain ourselves because of the warning that wild boars might show up. Nothing showed up, thank goodness. That's just me, I'm not a wild boar! 😆
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.