7 October 2026 | Akiu Onsen → Sendai
After a relaxing stay in Akiu Onsen, we woke up to breakfast at the hotel. The buffet was okay — nothing particularly memorable, but enough to start the morning before one last soak in the onsen.
So after breakfast, another bath and checking out, we took the hotel shuttle back towards Sendai.
For travellers staying in Akiu, this kind of shuttle can be particularly convenient because several of the larger ryokan and hotels provide complimentary or scheduled transfers between the onsen area and Sendai Station. It saves having to coordinate the local bus after a stay when all we really wanted to do was sit back and let someone else handle the journey.
We arrived back in Sendai fairly early, so naturally, it was too early to check into the hotel. Instead of rushing around trying to fill the time, we simply used the opportunity to browse and do a little shopping.
It was quite a different atmosphere from Akiu. Just a short journey away, we had gone from a quiet mountain hot spring town to Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region and a major transport and shopping hub for northern Japan. Sendai’s modern city centre is rooted in the town established by Date Masamune around 1600–1601, when he moved his base to Aoba-yama and began developing the settlement that would become the centre of the Sendai Domain.
That history is still very much part of Sendai, although it is easy to miss when simply walking around the shopping streets and station area. Masamune was not only a warrior and daimyo but also an ambitious city builder. His influence shaped the layout and culture of Sendai, and the city later developed a distinctive local identity often associated with “Date Culture” — a mixture of samurai traditions, regional Tohoku culture and the more cosmopolitan influences that Masamune encouraged.
By lunchtime, we were ready for ramen.
After eating, we returned to the hotel and, luckily, they were able to let us check in a little before the official 3pm time. This was especially convenient because we had actually stayed at the same hotel earlier in the trip and had left our luggage there.
The hotel staff had kept the luggage for us and, once our room was ready, they even helped move everything into the room. It was one of those small conveniences that made the return much easier. We did not have to drag our bags around Sendai or spend time figuring out where everything had been stored.
By then, though, we were pretty tired.
After the onsen, breakfast, shuttle ride, shopping and lunch, there wasn’t really much motivation left to go sightseeing. So we stayed at the hotel for a while and simply rested.
Then, in the evening, we went out looking for somewhere to eat.
We didn’t have a particular restaurant in mind and simply stumbled upon a random izakaya. It turned out to be a nice find. We had grilled beef, lamb yakitori, grilled onigiri and fish sushi — a fairly typical assortment of things that are easy to order and share at an izakaya.
Sendai is well known for things such as gyutan, or grilled beef tongue, and the city’s food culture extends far beyond that single speciality. With its position as the regional centre of Tohoku, Sendai has a broad dining scene ranging from traditional Japanese food and izakaya to ramen, seafood and modern restaurants.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel.
And that was essentially the day: breakfast, one last onsen, a shuttle back to Sendai, some browsing and shopping, ramen, an early check-in, an afternoon of resting and a random izakaya dinner.
After the slower pace of Akiu Onsen, it felt like a gentle way of returning to city life.
Transport and practical tips
If you are staying at an Akiu Onsen ryokan or hotel, check whether your accommodation offers a complimentary shuttle to Sendai Station. Services vary by property and usually require advance reservation, so it is worth confirming the departure time when you check in. Public buses also connect Akiu with Sendai, with the journey taking roughly 40 minutes depending on the service.
For us, however, this was not a sightseeing day. We had already done enough travelling, and sometimes the best plan is simply to get back to the hotel, put the luggage down and see where dinner takes you.
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