Sendai 2019: Zuihoden Mausoleum (瑞鳳殿)

I arrived in Sendai in the late afternoon and would be spending three nights there, but I wouldn’t see too much of Sendai itself. Most of my time would be spent day tripping to other places in the area. I did, however, visit two notable sightseeing spots in Sendai, the first of which was the Zuihoden Mausoleum.

Zuigoden is where several lords of the Date clan are entombed. The Date clan governed Sendai during the Edo Period and the most famous of them was Date Masamune, the founder of the dynasty. A long set of stairs and a pair of gates lead to Date Masamune’s tomb. While nowhere near as big as Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Date Masamune’s tomb is very colorful and intricately detailed.

Walking around the rest of the mausoleum grounds, you can find the burial sites of a number of other members of the Date clan. Masamune’s son and grandson are entombed in similar structures to his own, though slightly smaller and less ornate. Once I finished at the mausoleum I hiked back down the stairs and quickly made my way to the bus stop to catch a ride to my next bit of sightseeing.