Assalamu’alaikum guys. I am Itsna, a Muslim student at Tohoku University.
Have you made a plan to visit the Tohoku region for your short escape?
This article will help you to plan your trip to southern Tohoku.
This will be a 3 days 2-night itinerary around Miyagi, Yamagata, and Fukushima. You can use the JR EAST pass ticket for foreign residents in Japan to make it more valuable. There are many things that can be done there.
We suggest you stay in Sendai city as the capital of the Tohoku region and the access to the other places is easier to get from here. There is some Muslim friendly hotel in this City of Trees, so you can choose one of them. Some of them are located very close to Sendai station, they are Sendai Metropolitan Hotel or Umebachi Guest House. They provide the prayer room as required and there is an English staff as well. These will be a convenient stay for Muslims right?
Day1
Let’s draw the Sendai Metropolitan Hotel as your stay. It is just 5 minutes by walk from the Shinkansen line at Sendai station. Please take note, the trip will be a slow-pace because we consider if you bring your kids on your trip. You can make a check-in after 3 pm and save all your belongings to your room and then enjoy Sendai city after that. You can go to Kotodai park which is also near Jozenji street. If you come in December, it usually shows some illumination called Sendai pageant light festival. It is very beautiful to spend the night with your family and don’t forget to take a photo there like this.
loc: Kotodaikoen Station
3-chōme-9 Honchō, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0014
https://goo.gl/maps/wEFEKpw4ubFwvCcdA
However, if you come out of the festival period, you still can enjoy the park and Jozenji street. And, when dinner time comes, please try the Muslim friendly Ramen near there called Dashiro Nibo. The fish stock makes you want to slurp the ramen well.
loc: Dashiro -NIBO-
4 Chome-9-1 Ichibancho, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0811
022-393-4988 https://goo.gl/maps/VTbi68UG1Edm9tYC7
Go back to the hotel after dinner and get some rest.
Day2
It is lucky if you choose Sendai Metropolitan Hotel as your stay since it makes you get a halal breakfast more convenient. There are Japanese and Western restaurants inside the hotel called Hayase and Serenity respectively. So, Enjoy your halal breakfast there
Let’s go to Yamagata. The best spot to enjoy the beautiful winter is of course we shot Yamadera out. It is also known as the Risshakuji temple. You can ride the JR train to the Yamadera station from Sendai station for about an hour directly, no transfer needed. Then, It will take about an hour to trek the 1,000 steps to the top, but the view from the temple will be worth it! This is one of the best places to contemplate how wonderful our God created this earth 🙂
loc: Risshaku Temple (Yamadera)
4456-1 Yamadera, Yamagata, 999-3301
https://goo.gl/maps/tRPaNFj6xdA7MVGk6
Yesterday was ramen, so today I guess a hot bowl of soba and crunchy tempura would be good choices, wouldn’t they? There is a Taikou Restaurant in Yamagata which is a soba restaurant in Tendo City (detail see here: http://jhtv.jp/movie/muslim-friendly-soba-tempura-restaurant-yamagata-taikou-soba/). They warmly welcome any Muslim customers to visit their beloved restaurant, and will prepare dishes with Halal ingredients for you! Please make sure to make a reservation beforehand to ensure a seat and get your Halal cuisine, especially during rush hour.
After that, you can enjoy Yamagata across the JR line. Just take a visit to some castle near Yamagata station or if it is snow season you can enjoy the snow festival in Sagae. It is always fun to play with snow, especially a huge snowman.
Yamagata snow festival in Sagae
Back to Sendai…
Day 3
The last day is already coming, make sure to pack your belongings before check out at 11 am. Before that, You can take a walk around Clis road and Sendai station to find halal omiyage there. Again, fortunately, it is near to your hotel so you don’t need to bring all the belongings. Find this halal-certified Karintou snack, there are plain, sweet, and spicy versions and there is also ZUNDA mochi of course. Buy those and pack them into your bag. During your stay in Sendai do not forget to sip the zunda shake. It is a must!
After finishing the check-out procedure, let’s go to the next destination which is Fukushima before going back to the daily activity.
Aizu Wakamatsu castle is one of the top lists that you need to visit in Fukushima, the castle are extremely beautiful during winter and spring.
after that et’s go to the Halal ramen restaurant in Iwaki city called Halal Shokudo. please check the details here (http://jhtv.jp/movie/halal-restaurant-fukushima/). This restaurant offers “Halal Chicken Ramen Dish” as it’s a Gourmet recommended dish that is cooked by a Muslim chef from Myanmar.
Also, this restaurant offers a prayer room for Muslims which is very convenient. The Taste of Ramen is fresh and the chicken meat is very tender. Then you can go around Iwaki city and enjoy the beautiful sea here. See you again on the next halal trip 🙂
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