Japan VLOG | Sendai | Funaoka Castle Ruins Park and Matsushima (4K)
Hello! This is our first VLOG and our first video. The content on this channel will be a record of our stories and travels. We also hope it might be helpful to others. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them! Today, we’re heading to Sendai. It’s a major city in Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku region, Japan. Our journey begins at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. We’ve arrived at the airport to pick up the JR EAST PASS from the JR EAST Service Center. We chose the Tohoku Pass, valid for 5 days, costing around 30,000 yen (about 6,700 baht). This pass lets us take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai. Or anywhere else in Tohoku, like Akita or Aomori prefectures. It’s recommended to buy the pass online and book your Shinkansen seat in advance. We leave Haneda Airport by Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho Station. Then we transfer to the Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station. We’ve arrived. Tokyo Station is packed with delicious-looking food. We found a sandwich shop we had seen on YouTube before. Every sandwich looked so good. A little further, we found Tokyo Okashi Land (“Okashi” means snack). Freshly made Calbee fries — french fry lovers, don’t miss this. After exploring Tokyo Station a bit… We used our JR EAST PASS to board the Shinkansen to Sendai. The green train is called HAYABUSA and the red one is KOMACHI. These are the fastest trains to Sendai. Both trains separate at Morioka (past Sendai), so either one works. I actually wanted to ride HAYABUSA because I prefer green, but the window seats were all booked T-T So I booked KOMACHI, the red one, instead. From what I read, seats C and D have the best views. We were a bit hungry but didn’t want a big meal yet. So we bought a bento box at the station. It’s mackerel sushi, 1,580 yen (about 300 baht). This thin sheet is kombu seaweed — it keeps the fish from drying out. Looks like it’s edible too. Both the rice and mackerel are a bit sour. But under the fish, there’s sliced ginger and sesame — it helps balance the flavor. We’ve arrived at Sendai Station. The trip took about 1.5 hours. See you again, HAYABUSA and KOMACHI. It’s not as crowded here as in Tokyo — I really prefer the atmosphere. We’re dropping off our luggage at the hotel first. Tonight, we’re staying at Richmond Hotel Sendai Ekimae. “Ekimae” means “in front of the station,” so it’s a short walk. From Sendai Station, you can walk through the subway walkway or just cross the street. It only takes about 5 minutes on foot. The front desk is on the 5th floor. While waiting to check in, there are free drinks, coffee, and ice cream. Let’s try the sandwich we bought this morning (the one with the super long name). It got a little squished from carrying it around, but it still tastes good. The room looks really nice. We rested for a bit and then continued our trip. Next, we’re going to Funaoka Castle Ruins Park. We’ll take the Tohoku Line from Sendai Station. It takes about 30 minutes to reach Funaoka Station. One reason we came to Sendai was to see cherry blossoms here. But unfortunately, the forecast says it will rain for several days. We’ve arrived at Funaoka Station. It’s drizzling. There’s a cherry blossom tree right in front of the station. We’ll walk about 20 more minutes to get to the park. Even though it’s raining and the sky is gray, the cherry blossom view is still stunning. Most of the trees here are Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms. This park is listed as one of Japan’s top 100 cherry blossom viewing spots. They even have Thai language here! There’s usually a tram here, but it’s temporarily closed for maintenance this year. We continued walking toward the Shiroishi River. Found a scenic viewpoint with rows of cherry blossoms along the riverside. It’s so beautiful. If the weather were better, it would be even more breathtaking. Would love to try riding the train that passes through here too. It’s getting dark, so we’ll head back and find something to eat. We slowly walked back to Funaoka Station. At night, the cherry blossoms are illuminated. We’re back in Sendai. When you’re in Sendai, you have to try the famous grilled beef tongue. We found a Rikyu branch under the Don Quijote building near the station. We later learned this was the original Rikyu store — the first grilled beef tongue shop in Sendai. Now they have branches all over Japan. The grilled beef tongue set costs 2,519 yen (about 500 baht). That first bite was so good it made me tear up. The tongue was thick, grilled perfectly, soft yet springy. It was seasoned just right — so tasty with white rice. What I really liked was the green chili miso, or Nanban-Miso. It goes really well with the dish and cuts the greasiness. My wife said it was really delicious too. So we didn’t hesitate to order more. This time it came in thick slices. The tongue was denser and thicker than the normal cut. But in the end, I preferred the regular cut — just the right thickness. Finished off with Matcha Cream Daifuku for dessert. It’s the second day now. Ready to go! But it’s raining even harder than yesterday. T-T Starting the day easy — we’re heading to a café first. The café is not far from the hotel. But when we got there, we found out it was closed… I checked the opening time but didn’t notice it’s closed every Monday. Such a shame. But I’ll come again next time. Next, we headed to a taiyaki shop called Taikichi Taiyaki. The custard taiyaki was really good — highly recommended! While it was raining, we did a little shopping. Then came back to the hotel to regroup. Here’s something I bought because I really wanted to use it. This MUJI bag is super light and perfect for walking around. It’s out of stock in every MUJI store in Thailand, so I got it here. After a break, we went to Sendai Station to head to Matsushima. Tried Zunda — a sweet mashed edamame treat, a local specialty of Sendai. From Sendai Station, we took the Senseki Line train. We’ve arrived in Matsushima. This bay is one of Japan’s three most scenic views. We recharged with some French fries and a hot dog. The “Matsu” in “Matsushima” means pine tree. You’ll see pine trees everywhere around here. Next, we’re heading to Fukuura Island, a highlight of this area. You cross the red bridge called Fukuurabashi — it’s 200 yen per person. This small cute building looks like a rest stop. Walk a bit more and you’ll find a shrine. There are signs showing the names of the small surrounding islands. On the way back, we found a garden with sakura trees. After crossing back to the bay, we smelled something delicious from this shop. Curry bread with oyster filling. Absolutely delicious. We stopped by a grilled seafood restaurant called Nihachiya that we had passed earlier. The specialty here is oysters. We ordered grilled oysters and grilled tsubugai shellfish. And grilled hotate scallops with soy sauce. They were huge! We added some grilled squid tentacles and more hotate. This time grilled with butter and soy sauce — so fragrant. Then we headed back to Sendai. Tonight is our last night in this city. So we’re going to have grilled beef tongue again. Tanya Zenjirou is a famous place with branches only in Sendai. You can reserve a queue and check the status online. While waiting in line, I happened to see the Pokémon Center. This is my first time visiting a Pokémon Center! So many starter plushies. Rowlet is super cute! Yep, ended up buying one. Our turn is coming up soon, so we headed back to Tanya Zenjirou. Inside, most of the seating is at the counter. We tried the beef tongue sausage. Then had a grilled beef tongue set. Perfect thickness — very tasty. Not sure if it’s because it was my first meal that day, but I liked yesterday’s place a bit more. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped by Book-Off. I like browsing secondhand games here — just walking around is fun. But this branch isn’t that big, didn’t find anything I wanted. Back at the hotel now. Time for a snack before showering. Jagarico cheese flavor is THE BEST. That wraps up our two-day trip in Sendai. Next, we’ll head further north to Aomori, then back to Tokyo. Hope you’ll stay tuned! What did you all think of this video? Feel free to share in the comments. Thanks so much for watching!
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a two-day visit to Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
we took in the cherry blossoms at Funaoka Castle Ruins Park and enjoyed the calm of Matsushima Bay. there’s plenty of delicious local food, including the famous Gyutan!
00:00 Intro
04:45 Arrive Sendai
06:30 Funaoka Castle Ruins Park
11:40 Gyutan at Rikyu
14:34 Taikichi Taiyaki
16:15 Matsushima
17:17 Fukuurajima Island
21:08 Tanya Zenjirou
music:
Epidemic Sound
camera:
DJI Osmo Pocket 3
Thank you for watching!
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#sendai
#japantravel
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