Editing Sendai (section)

=== Edo period ===
Although the Sendai area was inhabited as early as 20,000 years ago, the history of Sendai as a city begins from 1600, when the ''[[daimyō]]'' [[Date Masamune]] relocated. Masamune was not happy with his previous stronghold, [[Iwadeyama, Miyagi|Iwadeyama]], which was located in the northern portion of his territories and was difficult to access from [[Edo]] (modern-day Tokyo). Sendai was an ideal location, being in the centre of Masamune's newly defined territories, upon the major road from Edo. [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] gave Masamune permission to build a new castle in Aobayama after the [[Battle of Sekigahara]]. The previous ruler of the Sendai area had used a castle located on Aobayama. At this time Sendai was written as {{Nihongo2|千代}} ("a thousand generations" or "eternity"). Masamune changed the ''[[kanji]]'' to "{{lang|ja|仙臺}}", which later became "{{lang|ja|仙台}}" (literally: "hermit/wizard" plus "platform/plateau" or figuratively, "hermit on a platform/high ground"). The character came from a Chinese poem that praised a palace created by the [[Emperor Wen of Han China]] (reigned 180–157 BCE), comparing it to a mythical palace in the [[Kunlun Mountains]]. Tradition says that Masamune chose this ''kanji'' so that the castle would prosper as long as a mountain inhabited by an immortal hermit.

Masamune ordered the construction of [[Aoba Castle|Sendai Castle]] in December 1600 and the construction of the surrounding [[castle town]] in 1601. The grid plan roads in modern-day central Sendai are based upon his plans.

<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" caption="Gallery" heights="130px" perrow="3">
File:Sendai castle01s3872.jpg|[[Aoba Castle]]
File:仙台城下絵図.jpg|Map of the Area around Sendai Castle
File:Sendai Zuiho-den Tor 2.jpg|[[Zuihōden]]
File:Sendai Tōshō-gū haiden.jpg|[[Sendai Tōshōgū]]
</gallery>