Sendai

Two days from the Hirose River to Matsushima Bay

Day one, morning. Take the Loople bus from Sendai Station to Zuihōden, Date Masamune's mausoleum, and walk up through the cedars to see the colourful carved gates. Ride on to the Aoba Castle ruins for the statue and the view across the city towards the sea. Only stone walls and a rebuilt gatehouse remain, so the panorama is the point.

Afternoon. Continue to Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine, built in 1607, then drop back into the centre to walk the covered arcades of Chūō-dōri and Ichibanchō. Cut across to Jōzenji-dōri and stroll under the zelkovas to Kōtōdai Park.

Evening. Eat gyūtan near the station, then head to Kokubunchō for a drink in one of the small upstairs bars.

Day two. Take the JR Senseki Line to Matsushima, the bay of pine-covered islets counted among Japan's three classic scenic views. Visit Zuigan-ji, the Date family temple, and the little Godaidō hall on its rock, then take a cruise among the islands. Back in Sendai by late afternoon, finish at the Sendai Mediatheque on Jōzenji-dōri or, if you still have energy, ride the bus out to Akiu Onsen for a soak.

Beef tongue, zunda and the station's gyūtan alley

Order gyūtan, Sendai's signature: thick-sliced beef tongue, salted and charcoal-grilled, served with barley rice, pickles and oxtail soup. Rikyū is the best-known chain, and the third floor of Sendai Station has a row of tongue restaurants. Then try zunda, sweet edamame paste, on mochi or in a shake, and buy sasakamaboko fish cakes.

Beef tongue arrived on Sendai menus after the war and became the city's signature. Gyūtan is sliced thick, salted and grilled over charcoal, then served as a teishoku with barley rice, pickles and a clear oxtail soup. Rikyū is the best-known chain, with a branch on the corner of Ekimae-dōri and Hirose-dōri, and the third floor of Sendai Station has a whole run of tongue restaurants, useful if you have a train to catch.

Zunda is sweet paste of mashed green edamame. Try it on soft rice cakes as zunda mochi or in the zunda shakes sold in the station. Sasakamaboko, a bamboo-leaf-shaped fish cake, is the classic edible souvenir, and many shops grill it fresh so you can taste before buying. Sendai miso has a long local history and flavours much of the home cooking.

In summer, order hiyashi chūka, cold ramen noodles with toppings, which the city claims as its invention. Seafood from the Miyagi coast, especially oysters from Matsushima, fills the izakaya menus in Kokubunchō. For coffee, the area around Kokubunchō has several independent cafés, among them Rock Cafe Peter Pan.

Tanabata streamers, Starlight Pageant and the Yamadera steps

Plan around Sendai's festivals: Tanabata from 6 to 8 August, with fireworks on the 5th and paper streamers filling the arcades; the Jōzenji Streetjazz Festival in mid-September; the Pageant of Starlight on the Jōzenji-dōri zelkovas through most of December; and the Dontosai fire on 14 January. July and August bring the most rain.

Sendai's year is shaped by its festivals. The Sendai Tanabata Festival runs from 6 to 8 August, opening with fireworks on the evening of the 5th, and turns the arcades into tunnels of hand-made paper streamers. In mid-September the Jōzenji Streetjazz Festival puts bands on street corners across the centre. The Pageant of Starlight lights the Jōzenji-dōri zelkovas for most of December, and on 14 January the Dontosai fire at Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine burns the past year's New Year decorations.

Weather matters for day trips. Highs climb from 16C in April to 27-28C in July and August, but rain also peaks then, at around 178mm in July and 193mm in September. October is the turning point, at 20C and drier, and November drops to 14C with only about 59mm of rain. Winter is cold, with January highs of 6C and lows below freezing, yet the city gets little snow compared with the mountains just west.

For a day out, Yamadera (Risshaku-ji) is about an hour away on the JR Senzan Line. Roughly a thousand stone steps climb through the forest to temple halls clinging to the cliffs, a place the poet Bashō wrote about; autumn colour there peaks around late October and early November. Akiu Onsen and its Akiu Great Falls make a gentler half day, and in winter the airport buses run to the Zao Onsen ski fields.