Spotlight On Sendai Station

by Armand Vaquer

Sendai, Japan is located in the Tōhoku region in Japan and is northern Honshu's largest city.

Sendai was demolished by Allied bombing during World War II. Following the war, the city was rebuilt with wide boulevards and they are now tree-lined, which is something one won't find in Tokyo.

The main station is Sendai Station. Outside of Tokyo, Sendai Station serves more passengers than any other station. Sendai Station was first opened in 1887. It is a major stop for Akita and Tōhoku Shinkansen trains. The present station opened in 1977.

In kaiju history, Sendai Station was first featured in Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II (1993) during a fly-over by Rodan. Then, in Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996), Sendai Station was featured first in the background while Asagi (Ayako Fujitani) made a pay-phone call to her father. Then, in the same movie, Sendai City was destroyed by an exploding Legion flower pod, with Sendai Station the detonation point.

I visited Sendai during my Japan vacation in April 2006 (my dad was briefly stationed in Sendai during the Korean War) and took the photo of the station at top. This is the same view of the station as seen in Gamera 2.

Details on Sendai Station are featured in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.