Sendai

Although there is evidence of settlements in the Sendai region dating back over 20,000 years, it was not until the local feudal ruler, Date Masamune, moved his capital here in 1600 that the city began to take on any significance. He established a fine castle on Aobayama (green leaf mountain) and the town that was built below the castle near the Hirose River was built according to the traditional street grid pattern. The original name of the area was also Sendai, but the Chinese characters at the time were different (千代). They used to refer to a temple on Aobayama that housed a thousand Buddha statues. Later, Date Masamune changed the Chinese characters to mean 'hermit on a platform,' (仙台) which referred to a mythical palace in the mountains in China. It is this latter name that is used by the present-day city. There are two ways of looking at the weather here. One is the way most Japanese people seem to look at it: it's not too cold in the winter and not too hot in the summer, compared to other Japanese cities to the south. Others find it chilly year round. The sun is up from 04:15 to 19:00 in June, and from 06:45 to 16:30 in the winter. Winter minima average around zero Celsius, but snow, though frequent in winter, melts quickly. Winter weather is very rainy, yielding to variable weather in spring....