SENDAI

city, Kagoshima ken (prefecture), southwestern Kyushu, Japan, on the lower Sendai River. A communications centre since early historic times, it was a small castle town and naval port during the Tokugawa period (16031867). With the opening of the Kagoshima Line (railway) in the late 19th century, it developed as a local commercial centre. The city was damaged heavily during World War II but recovered as an industrial site, with large paper-pulp plants. A university was founded there in 1949. Pop. (1985) 71,444. city and capital, Miyagi Prefecture (ken), northern Honshu, Japan, between the Nanakita-gawa (Nanakita River) and the Hirose-gawa. Sendai was architecturally designed by a feudal lord to be the headquarters of the Date daimyo family. Ruins of its 16th-century castle stand on Aoba-yama (Aoba Hill) in the western part of the contemporary city. Now the largest city and commercial centre of Tohoku Region (chiho), Sendai is also the regional seat of federal administrative agencies. It is a rail hub but depends upon its outport of Shiogama, in the southwestern corner of Matsushima-wan (Matsushima Bay), for shipping. The city's relatively few manufactures, such as kokeshi (wooden dolls), are primarily for local consumption. Agriculture in the surrounding area consists of rice paddies and fruit orchards. Sendai is an educational centre and the seat of Tohoku University. Sendai has one of the highest ratios of park space to city area in Japan because of its reconstruction after World War II. The Shinto shrine of Osaki Hachiman is valued for its architectural beauty. Tourists from all over Japan are attracted to the city by the annual Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival; August 68). Pop. (1983 est.) 660,076.