3 Best Sights in Tohoku, Japan

Perhaps the most renowned of Kakunodate's well-preserved samurai houses is Aoyagi-ke, which functions as a museum and even a bit of a shopping center (there are many restaurants and gift shops located here). The house displays an extensive collection of swords, armor, guns, and silk kimono wedding gowns as well as all kinds of historical artifacts to pore over, such as farm implements and household items. There are even some weapons in exhibits where you can feel their weight. Many war documents, photos, and uniforms from the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) to the Pacific War (1941–45) are also on display. History buffs will love it. The museum is a 15-minute walk northwest from JR Kakunodate Station in the bukeyashiki district.

The elevated vantage point over all of Sendai gives you an idea of why the Date dynasty chose the site as their castle, which they occupied for three centuries, but it also gives you a good reason to bundle up if you're heading there in winter. While the only thing that remains of what was also known as Aoba-jo (Aoba Castle) is the restored guardhouse, the grounds have become a kind of public park offering views over the city, the attractive Gokoku Jinja (Gokoku Shrine), but also a museum displaying armor and weapons used by Masamune Date, periodic events, as well as digital reconstructions of the castle in its heyday. To get here by bus, take the Sendai Loople and get off at the Sendai-jo Ato/Site of Sendai Castle.

The museum at the foot of the hill beneath Sendai Castle displays cultural artifacts, including pottery, paintings, and armor relating to the history of the Date family and the city. It's a three-minute walk from Sendai City Museum bus stop on the Loople or a slightly longer walk from the Subway Tozai Line's Kokusai Center (International Center) Station.