| Founder | Date Masamune |  |
| Year | 1600 | |
| Type | Mountaintop | |
| Condition | Other Buildings | |
| Alternate Name | Aoba-jo | |
| Admin's Rating | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | |
| Historical Site | National Historic Site | |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles | |
| Location | Sendai, Miyagi Pref. | |
| Map | Google Map | |
| Access | Sendai Station (Tohoku main line), 15 minutes by bus | |
| Website | Sendai City | |
| Visited | September 12, 2003; May 22, 2010 | |
| Notes | The otemon guardhouse in the picture above is a fair distance (10+ minute walk) from the honmaru and museum. Either find it on a map or ask for directions at the museum. I recommend taking the sightseeing bus to the main castle gate, visit the museum and grounds and then walk downhill towards this guardhouse. Then you can get back on the sightseeing bus from the nearby Sendai City Museum. The bus leaving the castle grounds tends to be very full and you may not get on easily from there. | |
| History |
Date Masamune received increased lands around Sendai for giving his support to Tokugawa in the Battle of Sekigahara. Sendai Castle never had a large main keep like many castles of this time period. There are various theories why and some proof that there were plans to build a large 5 story keep though it was never carried out. Even without a large main keep it was still an impressive castle with three 3 story yagura and a great honmaru palace. Date Tadamune added the Ninomaru after he became lord of Sendai. After the Boshin War, the honmaru was torn down. During a fire in 1882 most of the ninomaru was burned to the ground and the remaining buildings of the castle were destroyed during the bombings of WWII. Date Masamune is one of the most interesting figures of his time period. Known as the "One Eyed Dragon" (he lost the use of his right eye to smallpox), he was feared by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later became a deputy Shogun in the Tokugawa regime. Masamune actively promoted culture and industry. He built the Osaki Hachiman Shrine in Sendai and the Zuiganji Temple in Matsushima. He oraganized improvements to the rivers, forests and transformed the Osaki plain into a fertile rice field. Masamune also built a ship and dispatched his own men including Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Pope in Rome. Masamune was one of the most intelligent daimyo of his time. |
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12 Viewer Comments
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rebolforces
March 27, 2013 at 09:03 PM
Visited today. Followed in the instructions on leaving via City Museum. Good advice. Lots of road works on the way up. One section of wall still under tarpaulins and in repair. But all walls where the Castle Museum sits are intact and impressively curved.
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Frank T.
on
My Page
October 03, 2011 at 10:44 PM
The view of the town is great, and I enjoyed riding around the area, but there's really not much to see of the original site aside from walls, large as they may be. If you're going to Sendai, by all means visit this site. Otherwise, there are other places more worthwhile.
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Eric
April 26, 2011 at 11:03 PM
I have a few notes on the following page about reconstruction efforts that I know of. If anyone has something to add please let me know. The regulations about rebuilding historical sites are much more strict than in the past so there will probably be fewer reconstructions now, but they will be of better quality. http://www.jcastle.info/resources/view/117-Restoration-Repairs
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john
April 20, 2011 at 10:36 AM
one question-are there any plans to rebuild the keeps on any of the sites where only the yagura and other buildings survived [i'd put a question mark, but there seems to be something wrong with my keyboard] Anyway, if you have any info on the possible reconstructions of keep-less castles, could you write them down here
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Learoy
on
My Page
April 06, 2011 at 01:18 PM
Visited this castle at night and there is basically just ruins there and a museum, which of course was not open. There is a great view of the city and also a great statue of Date Masamune
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Eric
February 09, 2011 at 11:06 PM
Thanks it's fixed. Links to external sites are so hard to keep updated.
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Kris
February 04, 2011 at 10:35 PM
BTW, link comes up 404. Not Found The requested URL /kankokoryu/pointnojoho/point7.html was not found on this server. Try http://www.sentabi.jp/1000/0000/0001/0000/0000/100000000001000000000002.html for info in English.
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Kris
on
My Page
January 21, 2011 at 10:30 PM
A person I knew from Sendai told me I wouldn't see any snow in March; my train pulled into the station as snowflakes started falling and although it was only a small snowfall I had the joy of being able to show photos of the stone walls of Aoba-jo harboring patches of snow in their shadows. The statue of Date Masamune was quite hard to photograph in the afternoon sun but there were great views and I was happy to finally see it with my own eyes. (I used to sing 'Aoba-jo koiuta' at karaoke just to see that statue). If you are in the area you should also see brightly-painted Zuihoden, Date's Mausoleum, on the adjacent hillside. I also went to Matsushima and Zuiganji, the museum has many items belong to the Date clan. I didn't have so much time because I was using 18-kippu; I'm planning on going there again with my brother. I went a while ago so it should be interesting to see how it has changed seeing as Masamune is more popular and marketable than ever.
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Usagi
on
My Page
January 08, 2011 at 08:24 PM
If you are driving through Sendai, it is worth a quick stop. Small castle.
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alicemacgee
on
My Page
November 07, 2010 at 05:53 PM
The view from the castle grounds is simply magnificent! I wish the castle could be reconstructed as it was originally built one day, though it would be a really tough task to do. But I'm glad they didn't carry out their initial plan of "reconstructing" the yagura that has never been there in the first place. Kudos to all the people who struggled against that plan and to the people who did the fine job on excavations and restoration of the castle walls.
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Augustus
June 24, 2010 at 01:39 PM
I visited Sendai Castle and Odawara Castle this April. I found the Odawara Castle is far more attractive both in building and museum collections.(Sendai Museum closed during my visit, thus I can't give any comment.) In addition, some Date family related sites in Sendai city and nearby area are worth visit.
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Eric
on
Tohoku Castle Trip 2010
June 21, 2010 at 08:01 PM
A famous Edo Period castle with a huge stone wall
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