Miyagi · SendaiNo.1216★★Open in map →
Zuihoden
— Sendai's Momoyama-style clan mausoleum
Date Masamune had himself buried on a wooded ridge across the Hirose River from his castle, and his heir raised a lacquered, gilded hall over the grave. It burned in the war and was rebuilt. Two more lords lie along the same ridge.
- FromSendai Station
- ~20 minLoople Sendai bus, every 15-20 min
- Get off atZuihoden-mae (Loople Sendai loop bus)
- On foot
- Zuihoden
The sweet spot
This is one of the three stops every Sendai bus tour makes, so it is not a hidden place. The building is not old either — it is a faithful copy, raised after the original burned. What is genuine is the ground: the ridge, the cedars and the graves themselves, and a reconstruction that matched the lost carving instead of simplifying it.
Where it is
23 more notes in Miyagi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The cedar stairwaya stone flight climbing between cedars that have stood on the ridge for centuries
- Nehan-mon gatethe carved gate below the main hall, remade to match the one lost with the original
- The main hallblack lacquer, vermilion and gold leaf under dense polychrome carving
- The museumgrave goods from the excavation, with reconstructed portraits of the three lords
- Kansenden and Zennodenthe second and third lords' mausoleums, smaller and set apart along the same ridge
How to actually get there
- Sendai Station west exit, bus stop 16 → Zuihoden-mae (Loople Sendai loop bus, about 13 min).
- Zuihoden-mae → ticket gate and the cedar stairway (walk about 7 min, uphill).
- Zuihoden → the museum, then along the ridge to Kansenden and Zennoden.
- Back to Zuihoden-mae and on round the loop toward the castle stop.
- Loople Sendai from the station
- Sendai Station west exit, bus stop 16 →(Loople Sendai city loop bus, about 13 min)→ Zuihoden-mae, then about seven minutes on foot up to the gate. The bus runs every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 15 at weekends, with the first departure at 9:00 and the last at 16:00. A one-day pass covers the whole loop.
- Round the loop, or down to the subway
- The Loople runs one way only, so from Zuihoden-mae the bus carries on to the museum, the castle site and back to Sendai Station rather than reversing. Once the last bus has gone, walk down to Omachi-Nishi-Koen station on the Tozai subway line instead — about fifteen to twenty minutes downhill.
About the place
Zuihoden stands on Kyogamine, a low wooded ridge on the right bank of the Hirose River, facing the castle hill across the water. Date Masamune, whose domain was assessed at 620,000 koku, chose the site himself and left instructions for what was to be raised on it. The approach climbs a stone stairway between old cedars, turns through a carved gate and opens onto the mausoleum. Three generations of the family lie along this one ridge: Masamune at the head of it, his son and grandson a short walk to the side. A museum beside the main hall shows the grave goods that came out when the tombs were opened.
How to enjoy it
Doors open at 9:00 and the last admission is at 16:30 for most of the year, half an hour earlier through December and January. Going early leaves the loop bus still running at its short interval, which makes it easy to carry on to the museum and the castle stop afterwards. The stairway is the only way up, so count the climb into the visit.
Background & history
Masamune died in 1636 at the age of seventy, and the mausoleum was completed the following year. Its polychrome carving and gold leaf carried the taste of the Momoyama period into the early Edo years, and in 1931 the building was designated a National Treasure. It burned in the Sendai air raid of 1945. What stands now is a 1979 reconstruction, followed by the two smaller mausoleums in 1985 and a full refurbishment in 2001.
Before you go
- Cash
- Admission covering the three mausoleums and the museum is 570 yen for adults, less for school students, paid at the gate below the stairway. Buy the Loople one-day pass at the station bus terminal or on board if you plan more than one ride.
- Before you go
- Closed on 31 December, with the two smaller mausoleums and the museum also shut on 1 January. Winter hours are shorter and the last admission falls in the middle of the afternoon. The site is reached only on foot from the gate, so the stone steps are unavoidable.
- Another way
- City route buses stop at Otamayabashi, a short walk below the gate, which is useful outside the loop bus's operating hours. A taxi from Sendai Station is the other option once the Loople has finished for the day.
- After you get off
- From Zuihoden-mae the lane climbs to the ticket gate, and from there the stone stairway rises between the cedars to the gate of the mausoleum — about seven minutes in all.