fiogf49gjkf0d Airlines
Air China (tel 022/221-2025); ANA (tel 0120-029222 for domestic flights, tel 0120-029333 international); Asiana Airlines (tel 022/265-0022); Cathay Pacific (tel 022/227-8681); Dragon Air (tel 022/227-8681); JAL (tel 0120-255971 domestic; tel 0120-255931 international); Japan Air System (tel 0120-511283 domestic, tel 0120-711283 international); Northwest Airlines (tel 022/268-5871); Singapore Airlines (tel 022/215-7571).
Airport information
tel 022/224-5111.
Banks and exchange
There are branches of major foreign exchange banks, such as Sanwa, Sakura and Tokyo Mitsubishi, at the east end of Aoba-dori, near Sendai Station.
Buses
Long-distance JR Buses (tel 022/256-6646) for Niigata, Tokyo (Shinjuku) and Akita leave from the east side of Sendai Station. Express buses go to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and destinations around Tohoku from outside the Miyagi Kotsu (tel 022/261-5333) office at the west end of Hirose-dori. On the opposite side of the road, Tohoku Kyuko (tel 022/262-7031) buses leave for Tokyo Station.
Car rental
Central car rental outlets include Eki Rent-a-car (tel 022/227-8335), Mazda (tel 022/267-0123) and Nippon (tel 022/297-1919).
Emergencies
The main police station is at 1-25 4-chome, Ichibancho Aoba-ku (tel 022/222-7171). In an absolute emergency, contact the Foreign Advisory Service on tel 022/224-1919.
Ferries
Overnight ferries to Hokkaido (Tomakomai) and Nagoya leave from Sendai Port, accessible by bus from Sendai Station (stand 34; 40min; ?490). For Hokkaido, Higashi-Nihon Ferry (tel 022/256-7221) and Taiheiyo Ferry (tel 022/263-9877) run services on alternate days. Taiheiyo Ferry also operates the daily service to Nagoya.
Hospitals
Sendai City Hospital, 3-1 Shimizu-koji (tel 022/263-9900) has a 24hr emergency clinic; otherwise, ring the English Hotline (daily 10am-8pm; tel 022/224-1919) for advice on clinics with English-speaking doctors.
Immigration
For visa and other immigration problems, contact the Immigration Bureau, located at 3-20 Gorin 1-chome, Miyagino-ku, (tel 022-256-6076).
Post office
Sendai Central Post Office, 1-7 Kitame-machi, Aoba-ku, has a 24hr service for stamps and international mail (Mon-Sat), and also poste restante. There's a useful sub-post office inside Sendai Station.
Shopping
The main shopping streets are the covered malls of Chuo-dori and Ichiban-cho. For traditional crafts, try Shimanuki, towards the west end of Chuo-dori, which sells a good range of
kokeshi
dolls, wooden toys,
ittabori
carved birds, fabrics, ironware and lacquer goods. Maruzen is the best place in town for foreign-language books and magazines; you'll find it on the southern extension of Ichiban-cho, across Aoba-dori.
Taxis
Plenty of taxis cruise the streets of Sendai and wait outside the station. If you need to call one, the two biggest firms are Kanko (tel 022/236-1221) and Nikko (tel 022/241-4061).
Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections):
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