Traveling Sendai Japan: Spectacular views, dining, and Kannon
We are a married couple traveling around Japan. We make videos about our experiences across the country. This time, we’re heading to Sendai, one of Japan’s top five largest cities. We took a bus from Morioka Station to Sendai Station. We arrived at the bus stop, but were surprised to see no one there. The bus ride took about two and a half hours, costing about 3,500 yen per person one way. Since there was no one there, we were able to find a seat. We’re on our way to Sendai. We’ve arrived. Yay! Sendai Station is so bustling! This is my sister and her husband, whom I happened to bump into . This is my YouTube debut. We had a quick lunch at Lawson. Today’s hotel is KOKO HOTEL Sendai Kotodai Park. Entering the lobby, we’re greeted by a wide array of amenities. As you can see, the lobby is spacious and comfortable. Our room today is on the 10th floor. This room is spacious and comfortable compared to our previous ones . There are hangers as usual, and a full-length mirror on the right. Also, as usual. Hello! So, the bathroom. It feels a little more spacious than the one I’ve had so far. There’s a hairdryer and toothbrush amenities. The hand soap is a nice little touch, and there are towels, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash provided. Yuru-kun is making a fuss. This is the side table. It’s spacious and very easy to work in. These little things are nice, aren’t they? There are cups, spoons, and a kettle. There’s a refrigerator at the bottom. Learning from my mistakes last time, I made sure to turn it on. Here’s the inside of the refrigerator. It’s surprisingly small. It’s a little small. There’s also another chair and desk. Hotchan usually occupies the desk. Yuru-kun’s desk is ready. Here are the outlets next to the bed. There ‘s a USB and a regular type. Above it is a light. I think this is bigger than a double bed. It looks pretty big, doesn’t it? I was able to stretch out quite a bit. I was able to stretch out quite a bit in this loungewear . It was a shame that the loungewear was a one-piece dress. Overall, it’s a pretty nice room. This is what it looks like from the outside. This is the TV, which I can watch from the comfort of my bed. I also watched YouTube. Since I’m staying one more night than usual, I opened a bottle of wine. Let’s have a healthy meal tonight. These Kyoho grapes are Hotchan’s favorite, and Yuru-kun bought them for me. Good morning. It’s day two. Today is going to be interesting. Yuru-kun wanted to go somewhere alone today, so he filmed it. Check it out. I got off at the bus stop in front of Sendai Daikannon. While I was wondering if my destination was on the right or left, I saw something incredible. It’s huge. Can you see it? It’s huge. It’s looking at me. Hello. It’s raining today. I’m not carrying an umbrella, so I’m getting wet. Thank you. It looks like I can climb inside, so I’d like to. I ended up going around the whole thing without getting lost. Wow, that’s amazing. Oh, can you see it? Sorry, Kone. It’s raining. This camera isn’t waterproof, so I’m protecting it with an umbrella. Excuse me. What is this picture? It’s incredibly interesting. Let me see it. Sorry. Let me see it. I can’t see the Great Kannon. Sorry, everyone. The admission fee is 500 yen per person. It’s quite cheap, so I recommend it. This is the guardian deity for the Year of the Tiger. I was born in the Year of the Tiger, and so is Ho-chan. This guardian deity is protecting us. Suddenly, the atmosphere is incredible. It’s a spiral staircase. I love it. I just went down the middle of Sendai Daikannon, and I thought I’d gone down quite a bit, but I’m only halfway. It looks like this. Isn’t it amazing? There’s still a long way to go down. You take the elevator to go up, and the stairs to go back. It’s pretty hard. But it’s not like it’s all downhill. And every floor, 7th, 6th, 5th, there are statues like this. As you go down the floors, there are Buddhas, or rather Bodhisattvas, on every floor. Thank you, Yuru-kun, for taking photos by yourself. Tonight, I’m going to Gyutankaku. There was a huge line 10 minutes before opening on a weekday. Since I had made a reservation, I was seated right away. I was shown to a seat at the counter. This is the menu, but this restaurant is famous for its beef tongue. I ordered four pieces of grilled beef tongue. This was the appetizer. It was braised pork belly and tama konnyaku. I’ve hardly ever eaten tama konnyaku, so I wondered what it was like. It was incredibly delicious. The braised pork belly was also very tender and delicious. I think the more mustard you add, the better. It was so flavorful and delicious. And this was the braised pork belly. Both were delicious, but I think I preferred the tama konnyaku. I finished it in no time. I waited for the next one. Here it is. This is the tongue taki. It looks a bit like roast beef , doesn’t it? There’s a pile of onions and green onions on the back. I wonder what it tastes like ? Let’s eat it . I think it’s probably best to eat it with the onions at the back . There was quite a lot, so I’ll have some. Wow, look. It looks delicious. I want to eat it. As you can see from my reaction, the second person looked at me and said, “What is this?” It was delicious. It was so soft and delicious, I wondered what it was. It was delicious with the onions, but it was also delicious on its own. When eaten together, the onions do seem to overpower it, so it’s quite refreshing, but if you want the true taste of the tongue, I think it’s best to eat it on its own. Well, Yukkun likes the flavors of the ingredients, so I left most of it to Yukku, and I ate only the tongue. It was delicious. I finished it in no time. Here it is. Ta-yaki. It looks beautiful. This is so delicious. It’s an unforgettable taste. Even now, as we’re recording this, they’re probably making extra dishes. Apparently Yukkun had tried Gyu-Ta-Kai at another restaurant in Sendai, but it was just average. So, I guess this time too, they didn’t have high expectations and just ate normally, but, um, they looked at each other and exchanged glances, and they looked like they were saying, “What? This is too delicious ! ” They seemed to take their time. I was so happy that they realized how delicious it was. We only ordered four pieces, so two per person. We ate it little by little. Here it is. Beef tongue curry. A lot of people recommended this, and you love curry, don’t you ? So, I thought this was bound to be delicious, so I tried it. Oh, Annoshiro was really delicious. The beef tongue was also amazing, like a huge lump . But, it was so soft that once you put it in your mouth, it just chewed right up. The curry was delicious, and, um, I was pretty full when I ate it, but I managed to finish it. No problem. It was a feast . I’ll definitely go again. Good morning. Today I arrived at Matsushima Kaigan Station. My goal this time is to take the Matsushima Tourist Line for sightseeing . First, I went to Harako. This is the Matsushima Fish History restaurant. Set meal. Looks delicious. This is oyster rice, and this is the pyrography. And this is oyster miso soup. I also accidentally bought beer. This is the tuna bowl that Yuru-kun ordered . The one in the front is negitoro, the tuna on the left, and I think the one on the right is the long-tailed tuna. Wow. Look. This is the key. It was pretty big. It was really sparkly. Yes. Tanupon is happy too. I know this is a little late, but the one on the left is Pon-chan, and the one on the right is Tanuki. They’re a tanuki couple. This is a picture book that anyone who’s seen the Hakodate edition will recognize . So cute. I walked a little and came to the riverside. It’s beautiful. It’s sparkling and pretty. Really. I came to a place called Sukashi. It’s see-through, isn’t it? Won’t a child with small legs fall off this? Yuru-kun is also walking carefully. That’s a bomb. Wow, I’m a little tired, so I’ll take a break here at Genzo. This is Sakamaage. It’s quite tricky to eat, though. It was delicious. Yes, I came here hoping to get my first Zunda Shake. Apparently, this place is really famous for their Zunda Shake. Here it is. The one on the left is the regular one, and the one on the right is the chilled Hagino. It ‘s so delicious. Shake? I wonder why I hadn’t ordered one before? Right now, I’m waiting in line for my reserved sightseeing train, and the delicious Zunda Shake saved me. Like I said before, I had a reservation, but the two times I got a seat, I asked for a green seat and it was like, if I paid an extra 600 yen, I’d get a slightly better seat. But they tend to run fast, so I ended up waiting outside for over 30 minutes. Even though I had a reservation, I still had to wait in line to get a good seat. This situation, especially with how hot it was, was a bit frustrating. Since I’d made the reservation, I thought it would be easier if they’d let me choose my seat, and I managed to get a green seat. It was a pretty good seat, wasn’t it? I almost wanted to ask, “How can everyone sit down even though we were lined up like that?” But , well, I was glad I got a good seat. From here, it took about 50 minutes to tour the island. There are countless small islands, but there seem to be about five famous ones, and I could see this one too. Apparently, this one is called Kinjima. I’m not sure if it’s correct to describe it as a little rugged hole, but it was amazing. Personally, the most amazing thing was Niojima. Isn’t it amazing? It’s a rock. It doesn’t look like it formed naturally , without human intervention . It’s kind of like a circle with a boat on top of it. I was so moved, I was like, thank you for letting me see it from such a great seat. This time, I did the Jinmaru Course , and I think the five islands that are famous are Mizushima, Niojima, Kanejima, Senganjima, and Futagojima. But depending on where you’re sitting, you might not be able to see them at all, so this time, I only managed to see these two. The Tanupon couple are also yellowing. Yes, we’re back safely. Thank you, Jinmaru. Well , I was exhausted so I only took a quick walk around Matsushima Rikyu before heading home . What a fulfilling trip. Tonight’s dinner was octopus and highball takoyaki , salad, a funny-looking mentaiko, and another salad. Looks delicious. Looks delicious. Let’s eat. Let’s eat. Okay , this is a summary of our Sendai trip from Saizeriya. Yes . First of all, what I thought when I came to Sendai, and what I thought throughout Sendai as a whole, is this. The staff are friendly. Yes. Yes. Yes. This might be surprising, but it’s kind of common. Yeah. I feel like the further I go into the countryside, the less friendly people I get. It’s like people become kinder. Yes. That’s right. A sense of connection. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In that respect, it’s true that the people at the hotel in 8 were really kind, but overall, yeah. The average customer service level at convenience stores and the like is really high , yeah. yeah. That’s what I thought. There were a lot of foreigners acting like convenience store clerks, but they were really polite. yeah. They were so polite. I ended up saying thank you at the end. yeah. yeah. So, you know, Family Mart. Not Family Mart. Starbucks. Right. We went to Starbucks, and the Starbucks clerk was really nice too. yeah. That’s what you’d say to an older woman, right? I ended up saying that, and someone about my age decided to buy some Taiyo. [Music] And then, the best tourist spot on our trip to Sendai was Matsushima. yeah. Right. So, in Matsushima, we were staying at a station called Koutou Daikoen, which is right next to Sendai, so we took the train from there to Sendai and it took about 50 minutes to get to Matsushima-kaigan Station. Yeah. That’s right. Right. It was a direct train ride from Sendai, so up until then we’d pretty much taken the bus. Um, it’s been a while since Morioka and Hachi [musicians] rode the train. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I loved trains. Trains were great. It’d been a while. I rode a regular train. Yeah. I was excited. That’s right. So, here ‘s a Matsushima tip: do you remember where we had lunch in Matsushima? Yeah. Matsushima, ah, yeah, yeah. It was at that fish restaurant over there. Right. The fish restaurant is called something, but it’s pretty popular, so what time did we get there? Matsushima-kaigan Station , around 11 o’clock, right? Just before 11 o’clock. Right. We arrived around 11 o’clock and headed there first. Yeah. I think we got there around 11 o’clock. Um, we walked a bit. Yeah. So in the end , we were able to eat almost, um, without having to wait in line. Right. We lined up [music] Yeah. We were about third in line, but, well, we were able to eat, and when we looked behind us, there was a huge line. Yeah. That’s right. I’ll talk about the role of the food and how to get in without waiting in line for the Gyu-ta later. Well, um, the key is to go a little before noon. Yeah. Since you’re going around 11 o’clock, I think a lot of people probably plan their schedules so they take the sightseeing train first, ride the sightseeing train in the morning, and then eat, yeah. I’d recommend it. That’s right. Yes. So, you took the Matsushima sightseeing tour, right? Yes. Yes. You did. Right. Um, it was like we reserved in advance, so we’d already picked our tickets and time, and it was decided that we’d board at this time . But in the end, we had to line up for a really long time. I was really pissed. Because, you know, if it’s a reservation, they might as well have decided on the seat too. Yeah. But in the end, people who lined up early got the better seats , yeah. There was like a green seat on the second floor, and if you paid an extra 600 yen, you got a green seat, which was a nice seat with a nice view, but those tickets tended to be sold out early on the ship. Yeah. Doesn’t that seem a bit strange? Right. Yeah. Is that so? There were two reasons why it was a bit strange, and one was that it was the middle of summer during Obon. If there had been a really huge number of people on the plane, it might have been okay. Yeah. Mii. Yeah. It was really quite, um, the situation was so bad that it wouldn’t have been surprising if several people had collapsed from heatstroke. Right. Right. Really. Another thing was, the lines tend to be fast, but the lines are also haphazard. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it’s like people from behind, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was a bit puzzling that even if you lined up early, you’d get pushed aside by the people behind you and end up at the back . Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, they should line up properly, like, [music] 5 rows, 5 people at a time, yeah, during this busy Obon period, there will be a lot of people, so I think it would be good to have some consideration like, yeah, all the seats will be decided in advance. Yeah . I totally get it. Yeah, what’s the point of thinking that? What if you get heatstroke? Yeah, yeah. Matsushima was nice overall, but just waiting in line here almost made me hate Matsushima. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If it wasn’t for that Zunda Shake, I would have collapsed. The Zunda Shake was really delicious. Really delicious. Yeah. Especially the first 10 bites. Yeah. And speaking of Sendai, we went to Kachi. Yes. Gyuta. It was delicious. It was delicious. Right. Kachi is on weekdays, yeah. That’s right. I think the evening service starts at 5pm. Starting at 5pm. And we really did get to the restaurant at like 4:55pm. Yeah. There was a huge line. A huge line. Even though it was a weekday. Right. Maybe because it was Obon and Tanaka. Yeah. About 10 groups. I think there was a bit more in line. Was it really that long? Probably. But we had made a reservation, so yeah. They called and asked if there were any customers with reservations. Yes. With that smug look on my face, it was me, ahead of everyone else. Yes. Like, it was me, with a reservation. Right. So, well, we didn’t go to the main store, but somewhere like Mitsukoshimae store, but, well, I think each store is probably popular, so yeah . I think you should definitely go. You should make a reservation. If you go. That ‘s right. Um, I wonder how many minutes before people with reservations can get in. Oh, that’s true. Right. It starts at 5pm. So, when we got there at 4:55pm, the people with reservations were already there. : Right, right. I went at 4:55 and was called in as someone with a reservation ahead of me, and when I went in, quite a few people were already sitting down and eating something, I think. They were just serving appetizers . That’s right. Right. I’m glad I didn’t go so close. I wish I had . And, the first time I was told at a restaurant was that we’d only be seated for an hour. Oh, they said that. That’s right. I thought an hour was a thing. Right. That means it’s that busy, right? Yeah. So even if you line up, well, the turnover is pretty good. Maybe it’s fast, but, you know. I guess all the seats were booked without a reservation. If I had gone at 5 o’clock, I might have had to wait until 6 o’clock. So it’s definitely better to make a reservation, and I think you need to make it quite a while in advance. How many days in advance did I make it ? But I didn’t make it that far in advance. About a week in advance. I think about a week in advance, probably. Yeah. I feel like I could have gone if I’d made an appointment about a week in advance. That’s why I made a reservation. Yeah. I made a reservation. Next was a hotel in Sendai. It was really nice. It was great, wasn’t it? It was spacious. Yes. First of all, the best thing about it was that it was spacious. Yeah. So, how spacious was it? 16 square meters. Yeah. 16 square meters, well, it’s hard to understand in words, well, um, it’s the size because it’s shown in the video , yeah. 16 is spacious. 16 is spacious. Yeah. Basically, in business hotels, cheap rooms, well, they’re around 10 to 13 square meters. Most are 12 or 13 square meters, so depending on the room, it feels a little cramped, yeah. 16 feels spacious. Yeah. The bed was actually bigger than a double bed, wasn’t it? It felt big. That’s what it felt like. There were two sets of desks and chairs. I was happy. I was happy. And there was plenty of storage space. Right. There was plenty of storage space. The window sill was like a storage room. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. There was a pretty large space where you’d normally put flowers or something, and there was a ton of stuff there. That’s right. A little bit. I could watch YouTube. Yes. That’s why it’s big. The first thing I checked was whether it would connect to YouTube. Yeah. I looked at the buttons on the remote. To see if YouTube was there. I looked the moment I entered. Even if it wasn’t there, there was still a chance it would connect, so yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like the size of the room, so whether it could connect to YouTube or not might be almost as important. That’s right. That’s right. It’s like Tsudasuke. No one knows. But, um, well, there were some drawbacks or subtle points, well, yeah . What do you think? If I had to say, it would be the refrigerator. Oh, the refrigerator. Yeah. Yeah. The refrigerator was like that. Wasn’t it kind of hard to tell whether it was on or off? [Music] Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s really hard to tell if it’s cold or not, because household appliances tend to be a little warm. Even the refrigerator generates heat when you try to cool it, so it was a question of whether it was cold or not. Yeah. Yeah. It was. So I called and checked the button to see if it was on or off, and it was fine. After confirming it was on, I went outside. Yeah. Yeah. But I still had doubts. This is really good. It’s really cold. It seems like they’re taking into account the last mistake. Last time, was it Hachi? [Music] Hachi, I accidentally left the refrigerator on, and when everything went rotten, I woke up in the morning and noticed a strange smell , so, well, somehow, they avoided that, and , well, I guess it can’t be helped, but I was thinking about how crowded the elevators were. Yeah. Oh, was it crowded? Yeah. It was probably still pretty crowded because of Obon, so it was probably already packed. Yeah. Yeah, something, something was there. I was carrying a carry-on bag, and I was in a huge line of foreigners, and I almost broke down. Yes, yes. Yeah. Yes, I was. And, for some reason, I always got a room at the top, yeah. When going from the top, you’re the first to get on, so you can get on, but for people in rooms somewhere in between, like the fourth or fifth, when they try to get on the elevator coming from above, it’s already full, so they tell you to go to the next one. Yeah. That’s right. Yeah. So, you know, you need to leave with plenty of time to check out, yeah. It might be packed. That’s my guess. And, well, this is the last thing, but the buses are surprisingly convenient in Sendai too. They’re convenient. Yeah. When I lived in Tokyo, I almost never used the bus if I could help it . I don’t really know why, but I actually hated them. Yeah. Yeah. I know, I know, I know. But in Sendai, the trains are perfectly fine, so you can get on, but when I went alone to Sendai Daikannon, yeah. Um, I think it’s from the nearest bus stop to Sendai Daikannon. If you take the bus, it’ll take you right up to the doorstep, but if you take the train, you’ll probably have to walk about 15 minutes from the nearest station. Oh, I see. There are things like that. Um, I’m really bad at photography. This is a genius example. Everyone, please take a look and come back. You don’t have to. So, the bus was quite convenient, but Sendai Station is really difficult. Sendai Station is difficult. When I try to get on the bus from Sendai Station , yeah, there’s something incredible. The numbers. Right. Like, how many buses are there? There’s like a bus information center, so I could just ask there, but it’s kind of difficult to get to the information center. It’s like getting on the bus once or twice and walking through the connecting corridor. Yeah. Even if the bus I want is right in front of me, how do I put it? [Music] it’s quite difficult to figure out where and how to get there. Yeah. That’s right. What’s more, you have to go from above to get to that bus terminal. There aren’t any traffic lights here, and it’s difficult to even get to the bus station. Well, it’s not difficult, but it is a little bit of a hassle. You might be better off going to the second floor. Um, if you want to get on the bus, you should first walk around the rotary on the second floor to get an idea , then go downstairs. Yeah. That’s right. Yeah. Yes. So next time, I’m going to Yamagata Prefecture. Yay. Yay. So, um, as of this recording, I have zero subscribers. That’s right. One person, one person at a time. Yeah . Yeah. Wo n’t you be the first to have a channel that will soon reach 1 million subscribers ? That’s true. Yeah. It’d be better to take a screenshot. This yeah. You said you subscribed to the channel as the first person. Yeah. That’s right. I’m the first person on this relaxing journey of Hocha, someone called me. You can brag about it. In the future. Yeah. I’m the first person. Someone called A-tachi. We’re currently looking for more people. Yeah. Maybe I’ll be able to brag about being the 100th person. Yeah. Yeah. Please subscribe to the channel. Please. I said it. Like a YouTuber. See you. Bye.
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