Discovering Sendai: Anime Special Interest Tour
Explore traditional and pop culture in northeastern Japan
Why Sendai?
Blessed by abundant greenery even in its busy urban centers, Sendai is known throughout Japan by its nickname The City of Trees (Mori no Miyako). The capital of Miyagi prefecture and the largest city in northeastern Japan, Sendai is a dynamic and historically significant city bursting with nature, culture, history, and tradition. On this 3-day 3-night tour, hit all of our top general-interest sightseeing recommendations, famous spots representative of Sendai, and locations associated with popular manga, anime, and games.
Special Interest Tour
Specially designed for fans of Japanese pop culture, this tour highlights a variety of fun hands-on experiences and numerous anime, manga, and video games with connections to Sendai. From popular Weekly Shonen Jump mega-hits such as Haikyu!! or Jujutsu Kaisen, to fan favorites like Yuri on Ice and March Comes in Like a Lion, to beloved classics like the works of Ishinomori Shotaro, Pokemon, and Slam Dunk, there is something for everyfan in Sendai.
Featured anime/manga/video games include:
- Bakuten
- Blue Giant
- Haikyu!!
- The works of Ishinomori Shotaro, including: Cyborg 009, Genma Wars, Gilgamesh, Inazuman, Kamen Rider, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Sabu and Ichi’s Detective Memoirs, and the Sherlock Holmes series
- Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens
- March Comes in Like a Lion
- Persona 5
- Pokemon
- Sengoku Basara
- She, the Ultimate Weapon (aka Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet)
- Slam Dunk
- Wake Up, Girls!
- Yuri on Ice
Tour at a glance
Inclusions:
- All lodging and accommodation fees
- Breakfast at hotel/ryokan on Days 2-4
- Lunch on Day 3
- Dinner on Days 1-3
- English-speaking interpreter and/or guide (depending on choice of experiences)
- Admission fees to all attractions visited during guided time
- 1-day subway and bus passes for Day 1
- Round-trip train fare between Sendai and Ishinomaki on Day 2
- Transportation by private charter vehicle to guided activities on Day 3, and between ryokan accommodations and Sendai Station
- Cosplay karaoke, costume rental included
- Chopstick making OR kokeshi doll painting experience
- Food sample making experience OR shodo calligraphy experience
- Cosplay (J-Pop Idol or Lolita) OR kimono wearing experience
- Introductory manga/anime illustration experience, including a souvenir pin and postcard featuring your artwork
- On-trip remote support via WhatsApp or other instant messaging service
- Custom Google Map featuring recommendations hand-tailored to fans of anime, manga, games, and Japanese pop culture
- Samurai add-on plan only: Samurai armor wearing experience
- Art & Creativity add-on plan only: Kaleidoscope museum admission
- Art & Creativity add-on plan only: Kaleidoscope making experience
- Art & Creativity add-on plan only: Art and Doll museum admission
- Art & Creativity add-on plan only: T-shirt silkscreening experience
Exclusions:
- Travel insurance
- Personal expenses and gratuities
- Luggage storage, except at hotel/ryokan on the same day as check in/out
- Admission fees to attractions during self-guided time
- Food and drink in addition to the prix fixe meals included as part of the package
- Street food purchases during guided tours
- Drinks/food/game/song fees at anime song bar and gamer bar
- Arcade game fees
- Optional extensions or customizations to trip
- Matcha tea and sweets on Day 3
- Anything not explicitly listed as included
We can also provide the following options for an additional fee:
- Add-ons to the tour
- Flight booking
- Interpretation in languages other than English
Minimum number of participants
Please inquire
Maximum number of participants
Please inquire
Cost
From ¥126,000 + tax (per person, based on a group estimate with 2 guests per room)
Tour Length
3 Days, 3 Nights (with optional add-ons)
Tour availability
Year-round, please inquire
Tour Start/End Location
Sendai Station
Important notes
Day 1: Exploring Sendai City
Day 1 Tour Highlights
Start your Sendai journey with a guided walking tour of the downtown area, featuring spots connected to popular anime, manga and video games in addition to points of interest related to the local culture and history. On your way, enjoy street foods including taiyaki and kamaboko.
Visit the famous Aoba Castle site. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the city from above, and see the statue of samurai warlord Date Masamune on horseback, an iconic symbol of Sendai (the castle site has been featured in numerous anime and video games, including Bakuten, Blue Giant, Persona 5, Sengoku Basara, and Wake Up, Girls!).
After your visit to the former castle site, stop by the nearby Gokoku Shrine, built to honor those who lost their lives in service to the country (also featured in Persona 5).
Take your pick for a hands-on experience:
* Plastic food sample making
* Shodo Japanese calligraphy
To finish out the morning’s activities, visit the Sendai Giant Kannon, which was the tallest statue in the world at the time of its completion (and remains in the top 10 even now). Take an elevator to the top and work your way down to the ground level while pondering on the numerous solemn statues representing the 108 earthly desires.
Part with your guide, and take a break for a self-guided lunch and tour of anime spots of special interest to you. A custom Google Map of Sendai will be provided as part of the tour package, featuring:
- Anime/manga related points of interest (the settings of key scenes, etc.)
- Anime/manga-related lunch/food spots
- Other delicious lunch/food spots
- Recommended arcades
- Recommended shops for anime, manga, games, fan merch, and electronics
After you’ve had your fill of pop-culture pilgrimages, have a dinner of okonomiyaki prepared on a teppan right at your table. To finish off the day, enjoy some Sendai nightlife activities—cosplay karaoke at a karaoke box or gaming at a major arcade.
Relax in your accommodations. Choose from a hotel in central Sendai featuring immersive projection mapping installations or a hotel in central Sendai featured in an anime or manga.
Day 2: Manga Legends in Ishinomaki
Day 2 Tour Highlights
Board the manga/anime themed train to Ishinomaki town and walk along Manga Road toward the Ishinomaki Manga Museum. Make a stop at the Manga Shrine to pay your respects, and enjoy viewing life-sized statues of characters created by manga legend Ishinomori Shotaro along the road. Even if you are unfamiliar with his work, you will quickly recognize his impact on other mangaka and on popular culture worldwide as you stroll toward the museum.
Spend the rest of the morning exploring the gimmicky UFO-shaped museum and have a fun themed lunch at the museum café.
After lunch, enjoy a hands-on experience with an introduction to manga/anime illustration coloring techniques, using Copic markers and/or Clip Studio software. Turn your artwork into a pin or postcard to take home.
Return to Sendai City to explore Sendai’s famous yokocho, the setting of several anime/manga/movies, not to mention countless delicious restaurants. Stop for dinner at an izakaya pub in one of the yokocho.
Before heading back for the night, choose from one of the following nightlife activities:
* Anime song bar
* Gamer bar
Return to your hotel to relax and prepare for the next day.
Day 3: Photoshoot and Scenic Temple District
Day 3 Tour Highlights
Choose from one of the following plans for the morning, and spend a day immersed in some of the area’s most stunning scenery and crafting experiences.
Option 1: Feminine cosplay and a peaceful Buddhist temple
Start out the morning with a cosplay experience. Choose from either Lolita fashion or J-pop idol style; after preparing you will have time to shoot photos in-studio or outside.
Following the photoshoot, explore a Buddhist temple area and try some of its famous fried tofu street food. Take a tour of the temple, guided by a resident monk, including a visit to the temple’s glorious five-story pagoda. Relax with some matcha tea and sweets at the temple teahouse.
After soaking in the peaceful temple atmosphere, transfer to a hands-on experience—paint your own kokeshi doll, one of the traditional arts of the Sendai area.
Option 2: Kimono wearing and Matsushima
Be dressed in a kimono by a professional kimono dresser, then stroll the temple district of Matsushima, an area known for its scenic beauty. Stop along the way for photos when you spot a good opportunity.
Visit a temple featured in Sengoku Basara and another nearby samurai temple featuring an iconic rock garden. Enjoy matcha tea and wagashi sweets at the former teahouse of the samurai warlord “One-Eyed Dragon” Date Masamune.
Enjoy a sushi lunch in nearby Shiogama (Sushi Capital of Japan), then transfer to a hands-on experience. Perform the finishing steps of the chopstick making process—cutting them to a length that perfectly suits you, then coating them in a traditional pigment that’s not only colorful, but also has antimicrobial properties.
From the afternoon, travel by private charter vehicle to your accommodations for the night—a traditional ryokan inn in Akiu Onsen, a historic hot springs village known as one of Japan’s Three Royal Hot Springs.
Use the remaining daylight time to explore the onsen village, then enjoy dinner, baths, and relaxation.
Departure Day: Farewell, Sendai
Day 4 Tour Highlights
Enjoy a leisurely morning with a luxurious ryokan-style breakfast and one last dip in the hot springs before checking out.
Take your bags with you if you want to return to Sendai Station right away, or leave them with the front desk of the ryokan to spend more time in the Akiu Onsen village. We’ll provide you with a map of recommended spots, but feel free to wander wherever you like!
Return to the station and bid farewell to beautiful Sendai (…until next time!)
Add-On Option Day 4: Samurai culture and Sengoku Basara
Day 4 Tour Highlights
After checking out of your ryokan, visit the magnificent Shiroishi Castle (featured in Sengoku Basara). Be dressed in samurai armor and take photos around the castle grounds.
Refresh with a lunch of ramen or Shiroishi umen (the local noodle specialty), then visit the former home of a family of middle-class samurai.
Before returning to Sendai Station, visit Kessanji Temple, which was built by the lord of the castle in the 1600s and features beautiful scenery and historical monuments (and was also featured in Sengoku Basara).
Add-On Option Day 4: Art & Creativity in Akiu
Day 4 Tour Highlights
After breakfast, spend a fun-filled morning exploring some unique museums in the Akiu area. Enjoy surrealist artworks and a carefully-displayed creepy-cute doll collection in a small museum tucked away from city hustle and bustle, and a hands-on kaleidoscope museum featuring plenty of Instagenic photo opportunities. While there, try your hand at making your own kaleidoscope.
Between museums, break for lunch at a stylish cafe inside a renovated traditional Japanese home.
Join a T-shirt silkscreening experience—experience the silkscreen printing process for yourself and make a one-of-a-kind t-shirt to take home with you. Return to Sendai Station and catch your train.
Reservations
You can send a booking inquiry below. After we receive your inquiry, we will confirm if we can accommodate your group and tour dates and contact you from there.
Cancellation Policy
Our cancellation policy for this tour is below. Cancellation fees may vary according to exceptional circumstances.
21 days or more before date of tour
No penalty
20 days to 8 days before date of tour
20% of total price
7 days to 2 days before date of tour
30% of total price
1 day before date of tour
40% of total price
Day of the tour
50% of total price
After start of tour or no-show
100% of total price