*NOTICE: The Sendai City Museum is closed for renovation as of October 1, 2021. It is scheduled to reopen in April 2024.*

Four hundred years ago, the Sendai Domain was founded by warlord Masamune Date, known as the fearsome “One-Eyed Dragon.” More than just a warrior, his love of European fashion, arts, calligraphy, and tea ceremony were also legendary.

Mirroring the impressive artistic and cultural legacy left by Masamune and his successors, Sendai City Museum is half art museum and half history museum. The museum opened in 1961 at the former third compound of Sendai Castle to display 97,000 pieces of weaponry, pottery, armor, and art donated by the Date family. The main exhibitions are divided into several different sections: Early Sendai, Date Masamune’s Road to Sendai, Sendai Castle, the Sendai Han (about territory and warriors), Life in the Castle Town, and Steps to a Modern History.

Highlights of the museum include Masamune’s Date’s original jet-black suit of armor Gomai-do Gusoku, and artifacts related to Hasekura Tsunenaga (1570–1621). Though the suit of armor on display is usually a replica, the original is made available for public viewing on a few special occasions throughout the year. A portrait of Tsunenaga and his certificate of Roman citizenship tell the story of the ambitious trade mission launched between Sendai and Europe. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, there are also temporary themed exhibitions on rotation throughout the year.