Half-Day Walking Tour in Sendai: Retro Alleyways and Specialty Foods

Walk through Sendai’s retro yokocho alleyways and busy shopping districts while tasting local delights along the way.

This afternoon tour will take your tastebuds on a vast adventure. You can eat your way through the bustling shopping centers of Sendai while learning all about the history of the area as well as the delicacies of the Miyagi prefecture. The tour is perfect for serious cuisine connoisseurs and casual foodies alike! You will be able to try fresh seafood, a delectable beef-tongue meal, specialty desserts, and even take a stroll through the historic yokocho while your guide provides you with relevant history and fun facts. These are unique flavors to Sendai that you don’t want to miss, so come hungry!

Highlights

• Taste local delicacies and street food treats
• Visit a hidden away temple in the midst of a busy shopping district 
• Experience grilling your very own fishcake on a stick
• Walk through Iroha Yokocho, Sendai’s very own retro alleyway filled with shops and izakaya

*For those looking to join the tour from Tokyo, please see the FAQ Section below

Description

This tour will start at Sendai Station at 12:00 P.M., where your guide will meet you in front of the stained glass window (“Morinosanka”) near the west side exit of the main concourse (2F). There are coin lockers available at the station if you wish to leave any belongings behind, but we ask that you show up a bit earlier to the meet-up spot if this is the case.

We will then head off to our first destination, Sendai Asaichi.

Welcome to the Sendai Asaichi or Morning Market! The market itself started in 1945 as an open-air market in front of the station in midst of the post-war despair. The market has supported the city ever since then, and is often called “Sendai’s Kitchen.” It gained popularity throughout the decades, especially thriving in the 60s and 70s. Despite all the change, creation of a market association, and even becoming a tourist attraction, the market has kept at its roots and remains beloved by all locals.

Here you can find a variety of fresh seafood, produce, and even get a chance to try grilled or raw oysters!

Sendai is the original home of gyūtan, thinly sliced grilled beef tongue, so having a taste of it on this food-centered tour goes without saying.

Serving beef tongue started in Sendai in 1948 by Sano Keishirō, a chef who owned a yakitori restaurant in Sendai. You will get to taste a decadent gyūtan lunch set that’s paired with traditional Japanese side dishes and a bowl of steaming white rice. The set ends with a traditional Japanese dessert of a creamy vanilla pudding served with zunda, or sweetened crushed edamame, which happens to be a Miyagi Prefecture specialty.

Our next stop will feature another Miyagi Prefecture, and more specifically, Sendai local specialty: sasa kamaboko (笹かまぼこ.) This grilled fishcake is shaped like a bamboo leaf (sasa) and is where it gets its name from. In fact, the bamboo leaf design is the family crest of the historic Date clan, who ruled the Sendai Domain until 1871.

Sasa kamaboko is traditionally made with flounder meat and is crisp yet soft inside and quite easy to eat. You will get a chance to grill your very own! This particular stop also has a less conventional, but widely viral on Japanese TikTok, version of kamaboko called hyotanage (kamaboko deep fried like a corndog.) Guests are free to purchase this on their own should they desire. This store actually sells them with a lottery on the stick for a chance to win another one free!

Our next stop is the quaintly tucked-away Mitakisan Fudoin Temple. This temple is a popular spot for locals to pray to Sendai Shiro, the “god of business.” In shopping districts, Shiro has a reputation for bringing prosperity to stores whenever he visits, and he is said to favor kind-hearted people and bring them good fortune. You can shout out a quick hello to Shiro, purchase some good luck charms, and learn some of the history of the temple before we continue our patronage to local Sendai vendors.

Moving on to our next stop, you will get a chance to shop for some individually packaged food souvenirs. This store is a staple for both locals and tourists alike. It offers a variety of treats for people to try–both zunda varieties and other Japanese traditional sweets. Zunda is a coarse, sweetened edamame paste that has been eaten in Miyagi Prefecture since the Edo period. This location even sells zunda in milkshake form. You are welcomed to purchase something to eat there instead of shopping should you desire.

They also sell a widely popular mochi dessert called kikufuku; a common souvenir locals and visitors buy for their loved ones. You may have heard the character Gojo from the popular anime series Jujutsu Kaisen rave about this exact treat!

With your souvenirs or sweet treats obtained, we will then venture to the retro alleyways of Sendai to take a quick nostalgic stroll. Yokocho are narrow Japanese alleyways typically packed with tiny izakayas, bars, and various eateries. Although over 70 years have passed since its beginning, Sendai’s Yokocho has kept its Showa-era aesthetics.

Travel through history as our guide offers insightful facts and context to how this remaining bit of the past reminds us of Japan’s perseverance after the destruction of war. And don’t forget to stop back again once the sun has gone down for an entirely different, yet equally nostalgic nighttime aesthetic.

Our final stop on this tour leads us back toward the bustling shopping centers near Sendai Station. Conveniently located within the SPAL shopping center, this eccentric vending machine offers visitors a quick and easy taste of the region. Yep, it’s a sake (rice wine) vending machine, and has become a mini tourist attraction for travelers passing through Sendai Station. 

You will be able to select a sample-size cup of sake from among five rotating selections, all of which are locally brewed. This unique service is a great way to make sure you like a particular sake before purchasing a bottle. This shop itself is packed with local sake from the six prefectures of the Tohoku region. Limited amounts of local whisky, shochu, wine, and beer are also sold here.

We’ll wrap up our afternoon at Sendai Station, where your guide will say their goodbyes. The tour will conclude around 2:45 PM or later depending on walking and eating time. Hopefully your stomach will be full and happy by the end of this tour, but feel free to ask the guide for dinner recommendations for later!

TOUR MEETUP POINT

SENDAI STATION @ 12:00 P.M.

The meetup point is at the base of the giant stained glass window called Morisnosanka (杜の讃歌), located near the west exit of the main concourse (2F). 

If you are arriving via JR lines, the stained glass should be located directly in front of you as you exit the central gates.

If you are arriving via a Shinkansen, please look for signs directing you towards the main concourse on the 2nd floor. If you go down the escalators you will see the stained glass window ahead of you.

For those coming from outside the station, you will most likely be entering through the west exit. In this case, enter through doors near to the giant SENDAI letters outside the station and the stained glass window will be to your right or left.

You may wait nearby there until the tour begins at 12:00 P.M. Be sure to look for the guide holding a SNOW MONKEY RESORTS tour sign. We recommend arriving early as Sendai station can be quite crowded due to local train and shinkansen crowds. 

NOTES

Included

• English speaking guide
• Raw or grilled oyster 
• Gyūtan lunch set
• Sasa Kamaboko grilling experience
• Sake wine tasting

Excluded

• Accommodation
• Desserts/Snacks or any other food/souvenir purchases during the tour
• Transportation to/from Sendai Station before/after the tour

Other Information

• This tour involves several hours of walking outdoors. We recommend that you wear shoes and clothes which are easy to walk in. Please check the weather forecast before you head to the meetup point and prepare an umbrella or raincoat if necessary.
• Due to this being a walking tour, it is advised that you do not bring any luggage or large bags with you on the tour. It is recommended that you check if your hotel can store your luggage for you until after the tour, or store your luggage at or near Sendai Station.
• There will be ample time during the tour for guests to purchase extra food or souvenirs to remember their trip.

Tour Availability Disclaimer

All listed events, activities, and experiences are subject to availability. Please note that while certain tour options may appear bookable through our platforms, this does not guarantee that every experience can be carried out as scheduled in the tour itinerary. Many activities require direct confirmation with our partner venues, and availability may vary based on the date and other factors. Should any part of your ordered itinerary require adjustment or deviation from the original schedule, or if a specific experience is unavailable, we will contact you promptly to discuss suitable alternatives or amendments.