![]() If you walk the central tree-lined avenues or visit downtown parks like Nishi-Koen or Kotodai-Koen, you’ll soon discover why Sendai is called “The City of Trees”. Greenery fills the surrounding hills and even streets. Sendai has a modern, compact city center yet is geographically wide as it stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the mountains that include Mt. ![]() Locals will tell you that Sendai is sumi-yasui, or “easy to live in” because of its size and climate. Many historic sites, traditional crafts, and the city’s love of tea and sake trace their roots back to the Date Clan and life in the castle town. The Date Clan controlled the largest domain in Tohoku and was the third wealthiest in Japan based on the amount of rice it produced. Nonetheless, through a unique combination of resistance and isolation to outsiders, alliances through politics and diplomacy, and violence to those that betrayed or opposed him, Masamune would expand his castle town of Sendai founded in 1601 into a thriving city and domain that stretched beyond the borders of Miyagi. ![]() He also had several close calls in bloody battles on his rise to power. Masamune lost one of his eyes due to a childhood illness which other family members said was a weakness. Masamune was born to succeed as the 17th head of the Date Clan, but he had to prove his worth by fighting for both respect and survival. You can’t talk about Sendai without an introduction of Date Masamune, the dynamic feudal lord feared as the “One-Eyed Dragon” during Japan’s Warring States Period. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |