And the place I've been lucky to call home for almost three years now

with more tourists visiting the region than ever before

Today we're gonna take a look at what to do in the city and the surrounding area

From one of Japan's most famous and picturesque coastal towns

and a local fishing port home to more sushi restaurants per capita than anywhere else in Japan

To a terrifying statue towering over the city

We'll discover some of the iconic dishes, stunning scenery and vibrant people

that make Sendai a worthy weekend trip away from Tokyo

There's no way we can make a video about Sendai without inviting a local celebrity

Somebody who was born here, somebody who knows the area and somebody who's lived here for at least 300 years now

without further ado, it's Ryotaro! How you doing?

Very well. Celebrity, you're right about that.

I was being sarcastic

Don't be shy just see the sad truth, you're right

Don't let it go to your head again

All right. So where are we Ryotaro? Where is this picturesque place we stand upon now?

So this is where the Sendai Castle used to be

It used to be here, there's no castle anymore but there's the ruins of Sendai Castle

Yes, if you come to Sendai Castle expecting a castle, you're going to be somewhat disappointed

It got hit by lightning?

There was a fire

It got burnt down, like most castles in Japan it got burnt down

Most castles in Japan are actually rebuilt, but in Sendai they didn't bother

Instead they put a big statue here of Lord Masamune Date - the guy that founded Sendai and the local area

He tried to unite Japan actually, but he couldn't

He couldn't do it?

No, he couldn't do it

We can't all get what we want in life

Exactly

But if you've just arrived in Sendai I think this is a good starting point

Because you've got one of the best views, the best view of Sendai by far

And you can also try one of Sendai's most famous and popular dishes

So while you're up here at Sendai castle, you can enjoy the first local dish of Sendai

Which is actually a milkshake, Zunda milkshake

For the longest time I got Zunda confused with Zumba - the Brazilian dance

Equally as intriguing

But this is made of edamame, green beans, green soybeans that have been chopped up and mixed into the milkshake

I never wanted to try it because I thought how can that possibly be appealing?

For years on end he was like "Try zunda milkshake! Try zunda milkshake!"

Well I said that

And I said I'll take it at my own pace - my own pace is three years

Then I came up here two months ago, tried it, fell in love with it

Now you're addicted, obsessed with it!

I'm addicted and obsessed with it

How many have you had today already?

This is our third one. But I needed two to remind myself of the flavour.

Remind yourself, right...

And the flavour is vanilla ice cream with a hint of salt and a kind of nutty undertone

It gives it a very moreish addictive taste.

Trying your best to explain how it tastes

That's how you describe things

This is the best place to experience it, to try it, sitting here overlooking Sendai

Staring at the giant terrifying white statue in the distance

Look at this - this is Daikannon

Actually means "goddess of mercy"

When this was built in 1991, it was not popular at all by local people - and still isn't

When this was built in 1991, it was the tallest statue in the entire world

Now it's only the sixth tallest statue

But as Ryotaro said, its reputation isn't that great with the locals

Because it wasn't built by a temple, it wasn't built by a church or anyone

it was just built by a rather rich company, who had a bit too much money to spend leftover

That said, it is an incredible statue and you can go inside it

There's lots of mini statues and things but personally I wouldn't bother

I'll just come here, get a little photo for Instagram and move on

In recent years Sendai a5 Wagyu has joined the ranks of Japan's top cuts of beef

And today we've come to try Sendai beef served in four different recipes

And joining us for our tasting is an actual genuine celebrity this time

The most successful foreign musician living in Japan - frontman of pop rock group Monkey Majik, Blaise Plant

Who as well as being a resident of Sendai, is also our friend.

So Blaise, cheers for joining today.

Thanks for having me Chris, appreciate it

Difficult job, reviewing Sendai beef

By the way, Ryotaro is here. You can see him in the mirror ladies and gentlemen

Somewhere around here... I'll see here and then we'll block him out

So this restaurant specializes in Sendai beef and they've got a variety, pretty much every variety of Sendai beef known to man

We've got sushi, which has come out first. We've got steak and we've got shabu shabu coming later.

And sukiyaki later on as well

Sendai gyu is one of the highest ranked beef cuts in Japan

And can only be bred by licensed farmers

And with a rank of A5 denoting the obscenely marbled cuts of beef

It's not long before our favorite inevitable phrase makes an appearance

That meat just melts in your mouth, you could probably eat it with a straw

Melts in your mouth doesn't it

We've filmed beef quite a lot in these videos.

We've used the phrase "melt in your mouth" maybe 300 times in the last 2 years

So we vowed to never use it again

So now whenever I eat beef I can't use that phrase

Really why not?

Yeah, because I just feel like it's unoriginal

But it's all right, because you're here we can get around that

Is there another way of saying "melt in your mouth" without using the phrase "melt in your mouth" though?

Cuz I'll be damned if there is - there isn't. If there is let us know in the comments!

Round 2 is shabu shabu

You take a thin slice of A5 beef you put it in some hot water

About 10 to 15 seconds and BANG! It's cooked, ready to go.

Put it in some yuzu sauce, stick it in your mouth - job done.

Question is, how does it taste?

Mr. Blaise, and remember you can't use the phrase "melt in your mouth"

I know, I was just thinking about that

You've already used your trump card once this time

Gotcha. All right, well you know what? I'm gonna have to say...

Umarvellous! Umarvellous!

Am I okay to say that, or?

He's just quoted his brand new song

Disgusting isn't it? You have someone in your videos and they start promoting their stuff.

Sorry man, you gave me the opportunity

Your new song is Umarvellous, which is a combination of UMAI meaning delicious in Japanese

and marvellous meaning, marvellous innit

There's a dance that goes along with it too, so

He really wants you to watch that video

It is a good video, especially the 80s aesthetic in the video

It's an homage to our good old friends Earth Wind & Fire

Check it out

So our last dish is Sendai gyu in steak form

Blaise's is already gone

I said Blaise, let's just wait so we can film it

No, it's gone

Of the ridiculous amount of sendai gyu based dishes we've had today, which one was your favourite?

Well there was a lot of beef that was eaten today, so it's kind of hard to...

A staggering amount

But I gotta say the sukiyaki

Just because Sendai gyu goes really well with it

just because of that sweet marble

If you're in a hurry and you're looking to try another iconic meaty dish

Sendai's most famous food is gyutan, literally barbecued beef tongue

Popular in the city since the late 1940s

Barbecued to perfection and flavored with salt or miso - gyutan is typically served along barley rice and tail soup

You'll have no trouble stumbling upon the dish whilst wandering around the Sendai station area

Just follow the salty scent of the grilled beef and you'll be on the right track

So Blaise, you've lived in Sendai 18 years

Yeah, where would you recommend to people visiting Sendai for the first time, somewhere that's actually good

I've got a great place for you guys!

When you go straight out to the coast, there's another town called Matsushima

It's one of the most beautiful places you'll ever visit

Definitely on your bucket list

Matsushima

Matsushima

So, this is Matsushima Bay

It's one of the three historic scenic sites in Japan along with Miyajima in Hiroshima and Amanohashidate in Kyoto

It's quite a buzzing atmosphere, there's lots of things going on

Dozens of ferries going out every hour

Restaurants and stalls, temples and people here just to escape the city

And given that it's only half an hour away from Sendai, it's definitely worth a visit

So in Matsushima Bay there are 264 islands

And the best way to see that is to take a ferry and it costs about 1500 yen

So if you're coming to Matsushima the most popular dish to eat typically are oysters

Which you can find at pretty much any restaurant along the waterfront

But we popped in for something a little bit more light today - kinako sando

The best way to describe it is it's profiterole meets meringue. It's got a kind of crispy outer shell of meringue with the softness of a profiterole

But there's a difference in there

There's a cream in there right? You'll find that

That cream actually, it's made out of the roasted soy flour

and also butter and egg white actually

You know it's good because when Ryotaro and I are filming we usually do a few takes

but we've only had time to do one take this time

Given that I've basically eaten it all already

Yeah, because otherwise, you know, not gonna be able to film anymore.

We have to get it right the first time today.

I think if there's one thing to do or see in Matsushima, it's this.

This is Ensuin Gardens, Ensuin Temple

Just behind Matsushima Bay behind the waterfront

There's this beautiful sprawling garden that feels like a compilation of all the best bits of Kyoto rolled into one

We've got the rock garden. We have a bamboo forest.

temples, shrines

And these really cool cave carvings that look like something out of Indiana Jones

If there's one place you've got to come, this is it

I always bring people here and they absolutely love it.

Best of all apparently Einstein came here in the 1920s

So if you do come here you're walking in the footsteps of Einstein. If that doesn't sell it to you - nothing will.

Just ten minutes south of Matsushima is the port town of Shiogama

Which holds the record for having the most sushi restaurants per capita of anywhere in Japan

That's not just because Shiogama is historically a major port town

But because of the way the tuna is supplied to the local sushi restaurants

So if you're in Sendai and you want to get some sushi, when you get the best freshest sushi around

most people come to the nearby town of Shiogama

Which is just next to the city on the coast

And in-between Matsushima and Sendai

Shiogama, what does literally Shiogama mean?

Well shio means salt

And gama means pot

Salt pot. That's how you remember it - get that meme in your head

Yeah Shiogama faces the sea and they used to make salt from the sea water

Because Shiogama's got the biggest raw tuna market

So when you go to a sushi restaurant

Surely all sushi's raw right?

Well it is, but when the fishermen catch sushi right, they actually make tuna frozen normally

So when they go to the market and defrost the tuna, and that's how it's delivered to the sushi restaurant in the end

However in Shiogama it's the biggest raw tuna market. So it gets refrigerated only it doesn't get frozen

So when you eat the tuna it comes in the freshest state

It's about as fresh as it gets.

Exactly. So why are we still talking?

Dig in

This is seriously good

Amazing. Obviously you can get sushi anywhere in Japan, and they're all fresh

But the quality, and cost performance

"Cost performance?"

Good cost performance.

What an elegant romantic way of explaining it

Mmm you can taste the cost performance

Earlier on Ryotaro mentioned that the best way to see Matsushima Bay is to hop on a ferry

But if you have a little bit more time to spare or you just love fishing there is a slightly more adventurous alternative available

So we're out here in the middle of Matsushima Bay in what might be the world's smallest boat

It's a little bit scary. But other than that, it's a very calm beautiful evening!

There was a typhoon yesterday that swept through the area and we're now experiencing the calm after the storm

So it's actually very nice