Miyagi

Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県 Miyagi-ken) is in the northeastern Tohoku region of the main Japanese island Honshu.

On 11th March 2011 the prefecture was hit by an earthquake with a 9.0 magnitude followed by a tsunami and several aftershocks. Though some damages remain in areas along the coast, the rest of the prefecture is operating as usual.

Understand

Miyagi prefecture has nothing to do with Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid. For more useful information, see the prefecture's official guide site (Japanese-only, with integrated machine translation).

Cities

• 1 Sendai — The prefectural capital
  • 1 Sakunami — small hot spring town on the mountain side of Sendai.
  • Akiu — another hot spring town located in Sendai City.
• 2 Ishinomaki — An industrial and fishery port town, home to the Mangattan Manga Museum.
  • 2 Kinkasan — Gold mining mountain island just off the coast.
  • 3 Tashirojima — known as "Cat Island"

The prefecture also has a very beautiful sawtooth coast line.

• 3 Kesennuma — Northern city in the prefecture where fishery market is famous. Delicious abalone, sea urchin, shark fin and various kind of fish are available.
• 4 Matsushima — A bay of craggy pine islands, traditionally considered one of Japan's Top 3 views.
• 5 Shiroishi — Shiroishi Castle and Miyagi Zao Fox Village (and its wild foxes) are the main reasons to visit
• Shiogama
• Wakuya

Other destinations

Zao's Okama Crater

• 4 Naruko — hot spring resort deep in the mountains.

Get in

Sendai is the largest city in Tohoku and hence its main transportation hub.

By plane

Sendai's airport serves domestic and some international flights.

By train

The Tohoku Shinkansen connects Tokyo to Sendai and points north.

Eat

• Gyu-tan — grilled cow tongues with salt or miso are traditionally the famous dish in Sendai. On the second floor of Sendai Station, you can find several restaurants dedicated to this local favorite.
• Sushi — There are many sushi restaurants in Sendai and coastal locations.

Drink

There are excellent sake brands, namely Urakasumi and Ichinokura, but there are also plenty of other sake brands.

Go next

• Iwate Prefecture
• Akita Prefecture
• Yamagata Prefecture
• Fukushima Prefecture