Tohoku 2015, 2016 東北の旅 - AER Observation Terrace AER展望テラス

Visited 11.10.2015 (Sun), 12.05.2016 (Thu)



Observatory. There are two places where I will recommend to go to capture an overview of Sendai city from an elevation.

(1) Site of Sendai Castle 仙台城跡. The main compound of Sendai Castle (otherwise known as Aoba Castle) serves as an observatory for the city view.

(2) AER. Compared to Sendai Castle, this 31 storey high building is located just a stone throw away from Sendai JR Station. Formerly the tallest skyscraper in Sendai when it was opened in 1998, AER is used for both retail and commercial purposes. UNIQLO is located on the third floor and offices occupy majority of the building. The highest floor (31st) of the building is dedicated as an observation terrace for visitors to capture an excellent overview of Sendai city. Most importantly, admission here is free of charge!

Spotted a Shinkansen departing from Sendai JR Station.

Facing East. Pacific Ocean in the background.

As the sky gradually darkened.

Sunset view. Visited Sendai city on both trips to Tohoku region. On my first visit (Oct 2015), the sky has already turned dark when I arrived at the building after dinner. Though the view of shimmering city lights seen from an elevation was attractive, I could not make up much of the landmarks in the backdrop. On the second occasion (May 2016), I timed my visit to reach the observation terrace before sunset, so as to witness the transformation of scenery from daytime to nightfall. Huge glass panels are installed on the sides facing the east and west; just the perfect spot to admire the sunset view. As the train station is just adjacent to the building, the arriving and departing high speed trains on Tohoku Shinkansen line can be seen clearly from here. Facing the west side, try spotting the covered/sheltered walkway of Hapina Nakakecho Shopping Street (ハピナ名掛丁商店街) and Omachi 大町. On a clear day, the Funagata mountain range (船形連峰) encapsulating the city from the west can be seen clearly in the background.

Facing West. Funagata mountain range in the background. Can you identify the sheltered walkway of Hapina Nakakecho Shopping Street?

Just before the sun disappeared from sight.

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AER Observation Terrace AER展望テラス
仙台市青葉区中央一丁目3番1号 31F

Operating hours: 1000 - 2100 hrs
Free admission
http://www.sendai-aer.com/about#terrace

How to get there?

(1) By foot. About 2 minutes walk from Sendai JR Station West / Nishi Exit 仙台駅西口.

Tohoku 2015 東北の旅 - Toyoko Inn Sendai Higashi Guchi 2 東横INN仙台東口2号館

Stayed 11.10.2015 (Sun)
Reserved thru' Toyoko Inn website.
- Single room = 7,128 yen
- Twin room = 9,288 yen



My top pick for accommodation is still Toyoko Inn whenever I plan a night stay in a city area in Japan; and so far, it has not left me disappointed. Currently, Toyoko Inn has a total of four branches in Miyagi Prefecture and all four are located in its capital city of Sendai. Three of them are located withing walking distance away from Sendai JR Station (at least 5 minutes walk) and another one is situated near Hirose-dori subway station 広瀬通駅 (just one station away from Sendai subway station).

Different. Chose Toyoko Inn Sendai Higashi Guchi No. 2 東横INN仙台東口2号館, which is just separated from its sister branch (Higashi Guchi No. 1) by another building, because the desired room types were not available in the other two. The room type, design and the services offered in every Toyoko Inn follows the same model and does not differ really much. Toyoko Inn Sendai Higashi Guchi 2 is situated in a residential area, therefore noticeably quieter at night. One notable difference for this particular branch is its external appearance. The distinctive shades of brown which Toyoko Inn typically utilised as the main colour scheme for its hotels, is replaced by grey colour. Despite the less familiar colour scheme, it is hard for the large, recognisable signboards found on the roof of this 8 storey tall building to go unnoticed when trying to locate the hotel.

 





What's nearby?

(1) Sendai JR Station 仙台駅 and Sendai subway station 仙台地下鉄仙台駅, about 8 minutes walk away from the hotel.

(2) Sendai Anpanman Children's Museum & Mall 仙台アンパンマンこどもミュージアム＆モール, about 5 minutes walk away from the hotel.
Operating hours:
- Museum: 1000 - 1700 hrs (last entry at 1600 hrs)
- Shopping mall: 1000 - 1800 hrs
http://www.sendai-anpanman.jp/index.html

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Toyoko Inn Sendai Higashi Guchi 2 東横INN仙台東口2号館
〒983-0852  宮城県仙台市宮城野区榴岡3-4-19
https://www.toyoko-inn.com/search/detail/00024

How to get there?

(1) By foot. About 8 minutes walk from Sendai JR Station East / Higashi Exit 仙台駅東口.

Tohoku 2015, 2016 東北の旅 - Sendai JR Station 仙台駅, Kikusuian 喜久水庵, Loople Sendai るーぷる仙台

Sendai JR Station 仙台駅 is an interchange train station for Tohoku Shinkansen line 東北新幹線, Tohoku main line 東北本線, Joban line 常磐線 and Senzan line 仙山線. Sendai is the capital city of Miyaji Prefecture and also the most populated city in Tohoku region. This explains why the transport infrastructure in Sendai is well established, as this metropolitan city is served by high speed trains, Sendai Airport (which is 25 minutes by train from its city center) and has its own subway network (仙台市地下鉄).

Shinkansen and other trains serving this train station include:
(1) Hayabusa はやぶさ, commuting northwards towards Morioka 盛岡駅, Shin Aomori 新青森駅 via Tohoku Shinkansen line and eventually to Hokkaido via Hokkaido Shinkansen line, terminating at Shin Hakodate Hokuto 新函館北斗駅.
(2) Hayabusa はやぶさ, commuting southwards towards Tokyo 東京駅 via Tohoku Shinkansen line.
(3) Yamabiko やまびこ, commuting northwards towards Ichinoseki 一ノ関駅, Shin Hanamki 新花巻駅 and Morioka 盛岡駅 via Tohoku Shinkansen line.
(4) Yamabiko やまびこ, commuting southwards towards Fukushima 福島駅 and Tokyo 東京駅 via Tohoku Shinkansen line.

(5) Sendai Airport Access Line 仙台空港アクセス線, where trains commute between Sendai JR Station and Sendai Airport. Do take note this train is operated by Sendai Airport Transit 仙台空港鉄道. It takes about 25 minutes by local train and 17 minutes by rapid service train to commute between the terminus stations.
Sendai Airport Access Line: http://www.senat.co.jp/timetable

(6) Sendai Subway 仙台市地下鉄. This is also the interchange station for both Tozai (東西線 East-West) and Nanboku (南北線 North-South) lines of Sendai Subway. If you plan to take multiple rides on the subway network, a one day pass [850 yen] can be purchased at the automated ticket counters at the subway station.
Sendai Subway: https://www.kotsu.city.sendai.jp/subway/station/station.html

Kotodai Koen subway station.

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What's nearby?

(1) AER, about 2 minutes walk from the west exit of the train station.
The 31st storey of this building is open to public as an observation terrace 展望テラス where an excellent view of Sendai city can be captured. Highly recommend to pay here a visit just before sunset to admire the transition of the city from daytime to nightfall. Admission is also free of charge.

(2) Bus stops, located on the west exit of the train station.
Bus Stop / Platform 16: for Loople Sendai るーぷる仙台, a sightseeing city loop bus, which covers major tourism spots in Sendai city. For single ride on this bus, it cost 260 yen per trip. There are two one day passes which give unlimited rides on board Loople Sendai bus.
- One day Loople Sendai pass るーぷる仙台一日乗車券: 620 yen
- One day pass for Loople Sendai and Sendai Subway るーぷる仙台・地下鉄共通
一日乗車券: 900 yen







For my trip, I bought the one day pass for Loople Sendai and Sendai Subway at the ticket counter just beside Platform 16, the place where Loople Sendai bus departs from. Utilised this convenient bus service to visit Zuihoden Mausoleum 瑞鳳殿, Site of Sendai Castle 仙台城址 and Sendai Mediatheque 仙台メディアテーク in a day. Loople Sendai operates from 0900 hrs onwards at Sendai Station and the last bus departs at 1600 hrs. The buses run at 20 minutes intervals on weekdays (except in August) and run at 15 minutes intervals on weekends, public holidays and for the entire month of August.
Loople Sendai bus: http://loople-sendai.jp/

Bus Stop / Platform 31: for buses departing for Sendai Airport.
Bus schedule: https://www.sendai-airport.co.jp/access/bus/

(3) Kikusuian 喜久水庵, a local sweets and confectionery brand with shops located on the 2nd floor (near the ticket gates) and 3rd floor (in the Shinkansen transit area) of the train station.
https://kikusuian.jp/shops/

When I was in Sendai on both trips to Tohoku region, I was intrigued by numerous pictures depicting a bright green coloured bean paste. Found out that this bean paste is called zunda ずんだ and is a specialty of Sendai. Zunda is created by first mashing boiled edamame and then mixing the paste with salt and sugar, and is commonly used as a dressing for mochi and dango. While strolling around the shops in the transit area, I saw pictures of zunda yet again. Stopped by Kikusuian and decided to grab a cup of soft serve topped with zunda to try. The consistency of zunda is a bit like sweet red bean paste, but with more chunky bits of beans in it. Taste wise, it is less sweet than azuki and more refreshing in my opinion. As I am a fan of edamame, this dessert hit the spot right from the start.

Parco departmental store on the right and LOFT on the left.

(4) Shopping malls and hotels, surrounding the train station.

- On the west side of the train station, there are two Parco departmental stores and LOFT, one of my favourite lifestyle goods store to hang out in whenever I am in Japan. This particular outlet of LOFT spans from the second to seventh floor of the building and MUJI is located on the sixth floor in the same building. The sheltered walkway of Hapina Nakakecho Shopping Street (ハピナ名掛丁商店街) and Omachi 大町 are also located on this side of the train station.

- On the east side of the train station, there is BiVi departmental store and Yodobashi Camera.
Stayed in Sendai city for a night during my first trip to Tohoku region in Oct 2015. Chose Toyoko Inn Sendai Higashi Guchi 2 東横INN仙台東口2号館, which is about 8 minutes walk away from the East Exit of the train station, because it was relatively cheaper than the ones situated much closer to the train station.

Sendai JR Station West Exit.

Hapina Nakakecho Shopping Street.

Sendai JR Station at night.

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Commemorative stamps:

Tohoku 2015 東北の旅 - Riasu Kitchen リアスキッチン

Visited 11.10.2015 (Sun)

Modern style. After visited Shark Museum, we headed down to the first floor of Umi no ichi 海の市 in search for lunch. As Kesennuma is well known for its bountiful harvest of seafood, we already had in mind what we should have for lunch today. Rias Kitchen リアスキッチン stood out from the rest of the eateries with its modern flair. Glanced through its menu and the mains served for lunch were kaisen don (or seafood rice bowl), seafood ramen and seafood soup curry. Peeked inside and noticed that the business was rather brisk, so we decided to end our search and settle our lunch here. The interior took on a contemporary style with wood being the main material utilitsed in its dining area. The word "rias" means deeply indented coastline, a feature of the coast of Sanriku 三陸海岸 which faces Pacific Ocean and the offshore being one of the world's largest fishing ground. The catch from Kesennuma fishing port differs by season and an excellent variety of fish such as bonito (katsuo 鰹), swordfish (mekajiki メカジキ), pacific saury (sanma サンマ), yellowtail (buri ブリ), japanese sardines (maiwashi マイワシ), mackerel (saba 鯖), etc is delivered to here. 

Freshness guaranteed! With such an abundant supply of seafood readily available right at its doorstep, freshness is definitely guaranteed here. For chefs, I think it is a dream to have direct access to fresh ingredients which is an essential element to ensure quality food is presented to their guests.
Ordered a sanshoku don (three-coloured seafood rice bowl 三色丼) for myself and Kesennuma's signature fukahire (sharkfin) ramen フカヒレラーメン for my parents. As the name implied for sanshoku don, three different kinds of seafood were neatly arranged on top of rice - maguro (tuna), hotate (scallops) and ikura (salmon roe), accompanied with wakame (seaweed) and lettuce. Solely base on this simple rice bowl, I could echo the claim of how good the seafood were in Kesennuma! The delicate texture of maguro, sweetness of hotate and slightly salty flavour of ikura, complemented each another in this single rice bowl. As for the fukahire ramen, dried sharkfin was cooked till it turned gelatin-like and was served together with shoyu based ramen. We felt that the taste/texture of sharkfin was no different from the ones we had before and the quantity served was much more than we thought. Overall, the addition of sharkfin gave the bowl of noodles a different element of texture.

Sanshoku don. Highly recommended to try their seafood rice bowls.

Fukahire ramen.

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Riasu Kitchen リアスキッチン
〒988-0037 宮城県気仙沼市魚市場前7-13
気仙沼海の市 1F (Umi no ichi 1st floor)
Operating hours: 0800 - 1800 hrs; Closed on 1st Jan
http://www.mermaid-st.com/13_popreath/

How to get there? 

(1) By city loop bus. 

Board the city loop bus clockwise direction 市内循環バス (時計回り) from Kesennuma Ekimae bus stop 気仙沼駅前 (less than a minute walk from Kesennuma JR Station, situated along Kesennuma Highway). Alight at Umi no ichi mae 海の市前. Bus journey takes approx 10 mins.
Bus fare = 200 yen

Tohoku 2015 東北の旅 - Umi no ichi 海の市, Shark Museum シャークミュージアム

Visited 11.10.2015 (Sun)

Revitalised. This was one of the attractions we visited during our day trip in Kesennuma. Prior to Tohoku Earthquake in 2011, Umi no ichi 海の市, a two storey building located just beside Kesennuma fish market, was already a well known shopping and eating hideout in this quaint fishing town. Even though the building structure managed to survive the earthquake and subsequent tsunami attack miraculously, its operation had to come to a halt to facilitate major repair to reinstate its integrity. The lull period took as long as three years before it was officially opened to public again on Jul 2014. Today, the entire building has been revitalised with shops selling fresh and processed seafood and eateries on the ground floor, while Kesennuma Tourist Information Center and Shark Museum シャークミュージアム occupied the second storey.

Fresh seafood on sale.

A marker depicted how high the water level rose to when the tsunami hit the coastal settlement.

Umi no ichi and Kesennuma fishing market, just adjacent to one another.

Kesennuma Tourist Information Center located on the second floor of the building.

Shark town. Kesennuma fishing port tops the chart for the highest catch of sharks in Japan. In addition to that, the weather conditions in Kesennuma are ideal for drying of shark fins, thus making here a well known producer of dried shark fins in the world. Because of its strong relationship and dependency to sharks in their livelihood, Kesennuma city is also referred affectionately as “Shark town” (サメの町). Therefore, the set up of Shark Museum in Keseunnmua is not surprising. In fact, currently in Japan, this is the only place where you can only find a museum of such theme. Sharks (same サメ), saury (sama サンマ) and skipjack tuna (katsuo カツオ) made up large part of the locals' harvest here in this fishing town.

Memory. The museum can be divided into two main zones. A portion documents the state of Kesennuma when the Tohoku Earthquake struck Japan on 11 Mar 2011 and the arduous journey endured by locals to rebuild their homeland. As the main industry that support the livelihood of locals here in Kesennuma is commercial fishing, they depend heavily on the sea for its bountiful harvest. Having said that, the outbreak of tsunami has proven that the sea can be unforgiving, therefore the locals have to face the looming dangers that the sea can bring about to their lives. Through the exhibits, it is especially heartening to feel the strong sense of optimism instilled in the community as the people of Kesennuma continue to look forward to the future and maintain the harmonious coexistence of mankind and nature.

Shark zone. The other zone is specially dedicated to sharks. Here, the ecology of sharks can be better understood through engaging exhibits and visual media. There is a realistic model of a great white shark put on display, with detailed explanations on the various part of the shark. The other highlight is the whale shark model which is constructed to be 1/3 of its actual size, and the beautiful projection mapping on its body brings the shark into life! As the description on the exhibits is only available in Japanese, this museum may be less appealing to the non Japanese speaking visitors. Personally, I felt that despite the language barrier, I could roughly make up what the exhibits (the videos in particular) were portraying. Therefore, I will still encourage all to pay this place a visit if you plan to drop by Umi no ichi.

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Umi no ichi 海の市

〒988-0037 宮城県気仙沼市魚市場前7-13
Operating hours:
May - Sep: 0800 - 1800 hrs
Oct - Apr: 0800 - 1700 hrs

Shark Museum シャークミュージアム

Operating hours: 

- May to Sep: 0900 - 1800 hrs (Last entry at 1700 hrs)

- Oct to Apr: 0900 - 1700 hrs (Last entry at 1630 hrs)
http://www.uminoichi.com/

How to get there?

(1) By city loop bus. 

Board the city loop bus clockwise direction 市内循環バス (時計回り) from Kesennuma Ekimae bus stop 気仙沼駅前 (less than a minute walk from Kesennuma JR Station, situated along Kesennuma Highway). Alight at Umi no ichi mae 海の市前. Bus journey takes approx 10 mins.
Bus fare = 200 yen

Tohoku 2015 東北の旅 - Kesennuma JR Station 気仙沼駅

Recovery. Kesennuma JR Station 気仙沼駅 is the terminus station on Ofunato line 大船渡線, located in Miyagi Prefecture 宮城県. Kesennuma city is located along the coastline facing Pacific Ocean, where commercial fishing, in particular shark, saury and bonito, is the main industry supporting the livelihood of locals. However, this peacefulness was mercilessly disrupted by the Tohoku Earthquake in March 2011 as the city was swarmed by powerful tsunami, turning the large sections of the city into rumbles. The rail network was also severely affected by this fateful ordeal and Kesennuma line connecting Kesennuma to Maeyachi 前谷地駅 was one of them. To reinstate accessibility as soon as possible and optimise cost of restoration, the damaged railway line was converted into a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) by the end of 2011. This explains why the train station looks relatively different from the conventional ones; here you will see a railway track (Ofunato line) running alongside a bus lane (Kesennuma line). All thanks to Pokémon with you, I set foot in Kesennuma for the very first time. Even though I did not experience the immediate aftermath caused by the natural disaster, I had a better understanding of the trials overcame by the locals over a span of four years and the continuous strive to rebuild their homeland. The road to recovery is long but it is heartening to see the optimism displayed by the locals to re-establish the momentum in life.

Spotted the BRT after alighting from the train.

Dedicated bus routes converted from dysfunctional railway tracks.

Limited express trains serving this train station include:
(1) Pokémon with you train, as the name implies, is a Pokémon themed train introduced as part of recovery efforts to promote tourism in Kesennuma, commuting between Ichinoseki 一ノ関駅 and Kesennuma 気仙沼駅 via Ōfunato line. Operated usually on weekends and public holidays, the two carriage train underwent a complete renewal in Jul 2017 and became fully Pikachu centric. Had the opportunity to board the first version of Pokémon with you train from Kesennuma to return to Ichinoseki in Oct 2015 and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. At Kesennuma JR Station, passengers will be welcomed by Pikachu and other adorable Pokémon upon alighting from the train or entering the train station. I could not help but to snap a few shots with these lovable characters before rushing off to catch my bus to Umi no ichi 海の市.
https://www.jreast.co.jp/railway/joyful/pokemon.html

What’s nearby?

(1) Kesennuma Ekimae Tourist Information Center 気仙沼駅前観光案内所, located just outside the train station.
Apart from acquiring information on the attractions in the surrounding areas, visitors can also get hold of merchandise featuring Hoya Boya ホヤぼーや, the mascot of Kesennuma, from the tourist information center. Bought a collar pin and clear file as a gesture of my support to the recovery efforts in the city.

(2) Kesennuma Ekimae bus stop 気仙沼駅前, less than a minute walk from the train station.
One of the attractions nearest to the train station is Umi no ichi 海の市, a two storey building located adjacent to Kesennuma fish market. The ground floor of the building is occupied by shops selling fresh and processed seafood, souvenir shops and eateries while both the tourist service center and  Japan’s only Shark Museum シャークミュージアム are located on its second floor.
To get to Umi no ichi, walk to the bus stop 気仙沼駅前 located on the main road (Kesennuma Highway 気仙沼街道), board the clockwise direction city loop bus 市内循環バス (時計回り) and alight at Umi no ichi mae 海の市前. Bus journey takes approximately 10 mins.

Bus schedule:　http://www.kesennuma.miyagi.jp/sec/s023/010/010/010/010/050/17junkan20180416.pdf



Remember... Apart from Umi no ichi, we also visited several facilities temporarily constructed to house shops and eateries, whose original addresses/buildings were wiped out by the tsunami, such that livelihood could be sustainable. This included a restored yatai village 復興屋台村 and restored shopping center 復興商店街. While compiling this overdue post, I found out that both temporary facilities have closed since 2017. But the good news is that the tenants have found permanent facilities to resume their businesses! A new two storey complex named Murasaki Jinja mae shopping center 紫神社前商店街 was developed in Minami-cho 南町 for previous tenants of the restored shopping center to move into and also creating a brand new common space for locals to hang out in. On the other hand, eateries/restaurants in the restored yatai village have also relocated to new venues to continue their operation, showcasing their culinary skills and dishing up good food for the locals to enjoy. It is heartening to hear about all these positive changes that have taken place over the last few years. Will love to return to Kesennuma city to witness these changes and at the same time, explore the area further.

The former restored shopping center, made up of container blocks.

Previous tenants of restored shopping center have moved to Murasaki Jinja mae shopping center, a permanent holding place.

Murasaki Jinja mae shopping center 紫神社前商店街: http://kesennumafs.com/
Take the city loop bus 市内循環バス and alight at Minami-cho 南町. About 2 minutes walk from the bus stop.
Bus schedule:　http://www.kesennuma.miyagi.jp/sec/s023/010/010/010/010/050/17junkan20180416.pdf

The former restored yatai village which has ceased operation in 2017.

The former restored yatai village which has ceased operation in 2017.

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Commemorative stamps:

Kesennuma City Tourist Information Center