City History

Although the Sendai area was inhabited as early as 20,000 years ago, the history of Sendai as a city begins from 1600, when the daimyo Date Masamune relocated to Sendai.

Masamune was not happy with his previous stronghold, Iwadeyama. Iwadeyama was located to the north of his territories and was also difficult to access from Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Sendai was an ideal location, placed in the center of Masamune's newly defined territories, upon a major road from Edo, and near the sea. Tokugawa Ieyasu gave Masamune permission to build a new castle in Aobayama, Sendai after the Battle of Sekigahara. Aobayama was the location of a castle used by the previous ruler of the Sendai area.

At this time, Sendai was written as (literally means "a thousand generations"), because a temple with a thousand buddha statues (sentai) used to be located in Aobayama. Masamune changed the kanji to (literally means "hermit on a platform"). The kanji was taken from a Chinese poem that praised a palace created by the Emperor Wen of Han China, comparing it to a mythical palace in the Kunlun Mountains. It is said that Masamune chose this kanji so the castle would prosper as long as a mountain inhabited by an immortal hermit.

Masamune ordered the construction of Sendai Castle in December 1600 and the construction of the town of Sendai in 1601. The gridlocked roads in present-day central Sendai are based upon his plans.

Sendai was incorporated as a city on April 1, 1889, as a result of the abolition of the Han system. At the time of incorporation, the city's area was 17.45 km2 and its population was 86,000. However, the city grew through seven annexations that occurred from 1928 to 1988. The City became a designated city on April 1, 1989. The city's population exceeded one million in 1999.

Sendai became known as The City of Trees (Mori no Miyako) at least before World War II. This was because the Sendai han encouraged residents to plant trees in their yards. As a result, many houses, temples, and shrines in central Sendai had household forests (yashikirin), which were used as resources for wood and other everyday materials. Air raids during World War II destroyed much of the greenery, and more was lost during the post-war rehabilitation and growth. Sendai is still well known as The City of Trees, but this is mainly because of massive efforts to restore greenery in the city.