Sendai (Japan Miyagi)

Sendai is a port city and capital of Japan's Miyagi Prefecture (Honshu Island) with an urban population of around 1,1 million (metro over 1,6 million). Hirose River flows runs through the city for approx 45 km (28 mi).

Among tourists, Sendai is best known for its numerous trees, hot springs, Sendai Tanabata Festival (summer). The city's economy is based on manufacturing, trade, logistics and transportation, domestic tourism, education. Headquartered here is the Tohoku Electric Power Co Inc - an electricity production and supply company (ranked Japan's 4th-largest by revenue) that services ~8 million customers in six Tohoku prefectures plus Niigata. In 2016, the city attracted ~2,23 million tourists. Sendai's universities include Tohoku, Tohoku Gakuin, Tohoku Fukushi, Miyagi, Miyagi Gakuin, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical (Aoba-Ku).

The city is served by Sendai Airport in Nator, located approx 14 km (9 mi) to the southeast. The airport serves domestic and international airlines linking to China (Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian), Taiwan (Taipei), Korea (Incheon-Seoul), Thailand (Bangkok), Japan (Nagoya, Tomakomai-Sapporo, Naha, Kobe, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, Komatsu, Izumo).

Sendai is interlinked via 13 highways, including 2x Expressways (Tohoku, Sanriku), 8x National Routes (4, 6, 45, 47, 48, 286, 346, 457), and 3x Roads (Sendai-Tobu, Sendai-Nambu, Sendai-Nishi). The city's railway network consists of 6 lines (operated by JR East) - Sendai Subway, Tohoku Shinkansen (high-speed), Tohoku Main Line, Joban Line, Senzan Line, Senseki Line. At the end of WW2 (1939-1945), most of the city was destroyed during the US air raids in July 1945. The operation was part of the USA's strategic bombing campaign against Japan's civilian population.