Editing Sendai (section)

==Geography==
Sendai is located at lat. 38°16'05" north, long. 140°52'11" east. The city's area is {{cvt|788.09|km2}}, and stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the [[Ōu Mountains]], which are the east and west borders of Miyagi Prefecture. As a result, the city's geography is quite diverse. Eastern Sendai is a plains area, the center of the city is hilly, and western areas are mountainous. The highest point in the city is [[Mount Funagata]] which stands {{convert|1500|m|0|abbr=off}} [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]]. Unique among Japan's large coastal cities, Sendai's city core is built on a terrace at {{cvt|40.|–|60.|m}} elevation.

The Sendai basin area is {{convert|939|km2|0|abbr=on}} (the mountainous area is {{convert|675|km2|0|abbr=on}}, the plain area is {{convert|245|km2|0|abbr=on}} and the water body is {{convert|20|km2|0|abbr=on}}). The basin consists of urban areas, paddy fields and forests. The mid and upstream areas have forests. The [[Natori River]] flows through the area and reaches Sendai Bay after {{convert|55|km|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Chen | first = Yangbo | chapter = Study Basin | title = GIS and Remote Sensing in Hydrology, Water Resources and Environment  | publisher =  International Association of Hydrological Sciences | date = 1 September 2004 | pages = 392–393 | isbn = 978-1901502725 }}</ref>

The {{nihongo|'''Hirose River'''|広瀬川|Hirose-gawa}} flows {{convert|45|km|0|abbr=off}} through Sendai. The river is well known as a symbol of Sendai, especially because it appears in the lyrics of Aoba-jō Koi-uta (青葉城恋唄; literally, ''The Aoba Castle Love Song''), a popular song sung by Muneyuki Satō. [[Aoba Castle]] was built close to the river to use the river as a natural [[moat]]. The river frequently flooded until the 1950s, but dams and levees constructed in the 1960s and 1970s have made such floods rare.

Most mountains in Sendai are dormant volcanoes, much older than the more famous [[Mount Zaō]] and [[Naruko (volcano)|Naruko]] volcanoes in nearby municipalities. However, many [[hot springs]] can be found in the city, indicating [[hydrothermal circulation|hydrothermal activity]]. The Miyagi Oki [[earthquake]] occurs offshore Sendai once every 25 to 40 years. The 7.2 magnitude [[2005 Miyagi earthquake]], which occurred on August 16, 2005, had an epicenter close to the ''Miyagi Oki'' earthquake area. However, the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion concluded that it was not the ''Miyagi Oki'' earthquake, saying "...the recent event is not thought to be this earthquake. This is because the magnitude of the earthquake was small, and the source area, which was estimated from the aftershock distribution and seismic waves, didn't cover the whole expected source region. Although, the recent event ruptured a part of the focal region of the expected earthquake."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jishin.go.jp/main/chousa/05aug_miyagi/index-e.htm|title=Earthquake Off-shore of Miyagi Prefecture on August 16, 2005|publisher=Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion|date=17 August 2005|access-date=March 18, 2011}}</ref> In 2011, the 9.0 magnitude [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|2011 Tōhoku earthquake]] occurred offshore Sendai, resulting in a devastating tsunami.

===Wards===
Sendai has five [[Wards of Japan|wards]] ("ku"), which were created when it became a [[Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan|designated city]] in 1989. The city consciously avoided names that included directions (e.g., north {{Nihongo2|{{linktext|北}}}}, center {{Nihongo2|{{linktext|中央}}}}) when it chose names for the new wards.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="810px"
! colspan="8" | Wards of Sendai
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | Place Name
!
!
!
!
!Map of Sendai
|-
! style="width: 190px;" |[[Romanization of Japanese|Rōmaji]]
! style="width: 190px;" |[[Kanji]]
!Color
!Population
!''Land area in km<sup>2</sup>''
!Pop. density
''per km<sup>2</sup>''
!
|-
| style="text-align: center;" "width: 20px;" | 1
|[[Aoba-ku, Sendai|Aoba-ku]] - (administrative center)
|青葉区
|[[File:Japan_WardColour_0x40x100.png|16x16px]] blue
<br />
|296,551
|302.278
|981
| rowspan="5" |[[File:Sendai wards.png|alt=|border|center|399x399px|A map of Sendai's Wards]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 2
|[[Izumi-ku, Sendai|Izumi-ku]]
| 泉区
|[[File:Japan WardColour 100x0x0.svg|16x16px]] red
<br />
|215,048
|146.61 
|1,470
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 3
|[[Miyagino-ku, Sendai|Miyagino-ku]]<br />
| 宮城野区
|[[File:Japan_WardColour_100x80x0.png|16x16px]] yellow
|196,086
|58,19
|3,370
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 4
|[[Taihaku-ku, Sendai|Taihaku-ku]]
| 太白区
|[[File:Japan WardColour 100x40x0.svg|16x16px]] orange
<br />
|226,069
|228.39
|997
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 5
|[[Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai|Wakabayashi-ku]]
| 若林区
|[[File:Japan_WardColour_60x80x0.png|16x16px]] light green
|137,494
|50.86 
|2,700
|}

=== Cityscape ===
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" heights="130" perrow="3" caption="Gallery">
File:DownTown of SendaiCity01.jpg|View of Sendai from [[Aer (Sendai)|AER]] (2019)
File:Night view from Mukaiyama.JPG|Sendai night skyline from Mukaiyama (2012)
File:211028_Sendai_Station_Sendai_Miyagi_pref_Japan02s5.jpg|[[Sendai Station (Miyagi)|Sendai Station]] (2021)
File:Kokubuncho-dori ave. viewed from Jozenji-dori ave. cropped.jpg|Kokubunchō (2010)
File:Koutoudai Park3.jpg|Kōtōdai Park (2007)
</gallery>

{{wide image|Sendai City Panorama from Site of Sendai Castle Keep Tower Base 2010-05-31.jpg|2000px|City view from the Sendai Castle on Mount Aoba|right|dir=rtl}}

===Climate===
Sendai has a [[humid subtropical climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Cfa''), which features warm and wet summers, and cool and dry winters. Sendai summers are not as hot as [[Tokyo]] to the south, while the winters are much milder than [[Sapporo]] to the north, but retains significant seasonal differences in temperature and rainfall. Extremes range from {{cvt|−11.7|to|37.2|°C}}. Of Japan's prefectural capitals, Sendai experiences the fewest days of extreme temperatures (highs outside {{cvt|0|-|30|C}}) at 19.6 per year, compared to Tokyo's average of 49.

Winters are cool and relatively dry, with January temperatures averaging {{convert|1.5|°C|1}}. Snowfall is much lower than cities on the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, such as [[Niigata (city)|Niigata]] and [[Tottori (city)|Tottori]]. Summers are very warm and much of the year's precipitation is delivered at this time, with an August average of {{convert|24.1|°C|1}}. The city is rarely hit by [[typhoon]]s, and experiences only 6 days with more than {{convert|10|cm|in|0}} of rainfall on average. Sendai's [[monsoon]] season usually begins in late April to early October, which is later than in most cities in Japan. During this season, cold winds from the Okhotsk air mass, called "[[Yamase]]", blow in and depress daytime highs.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/agrmet1943/52/5/52_5_949/_article/-char/ja/|title=Classification of the Yamase (cold northeasterly wind around northeastern Japan) based upon its air-mass vertical structures|author=Hiromitsu Kanno|journal=Tenki|volume=40|page=|doi=10.2480/agrmet.52.949|language=ja}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Sendai (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1926−present)
|single line = Y
|metric first = Y
|Jan record high C = 17.9
|Feb record high C = 21.1
|Mar record high C = 24.2
|Apr record high C = 29.9
|May record high C = 33.2
|Jun record high C = 35.1
|Jul record high C = 36.7
|Aug record high C = 37.3
|Sep record high C = 36.0
|Oct record high C = 30.3
|Nov record high C = 24.4
|Dec record high C = 21.8
|Jan record low C = -11.7
|Feb record low C = -11.5
|Mar record low C = -8.9
|Apr record low C = -5.0
|May record low C = -0.3
|Jun record low C = 5.4
|Jul record low C = 9.0
|Aug record low C = 12.9
|Sep record low C = 5.6
|Oct record low C = -0.1
|Nov record low C = -5.0
|Dec record low C = -10.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 42.3
|Feb precipitation mm = 33.9
|Mar precipitation mm = 74.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 90.2
|May precipitation mm = 110.2
|Jun precipitation mm = 143.7
|Jul precipitation mm = 178.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 157.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 192.6
|Oct precipitation mm = 150.6
|Nov precipitation mm = 58.7
|Dec precipitation mm = 44.1
|year precipitation mm = 1276.7
|Jan mean C = 2.0
|Feb mean C = 2.4
|Mar mean C = 5.5
|Apr mean C = 10.7
|May mean C = 15.6
|Jun mean C = 19.2
|Jul mean C = 22.9
|Aug mean C = 24.4
|Sep mean C = 21.2
|Oct mean C = 15.7
|Nov mean C = 9.8
|Dec mean C = 4.5
|year mean C = 12.8
|Jan high C = 5.6
|Feb high C = 6.5
|Mar high C = 10.0
|Apr high C = 15.5
|May high C = 20.2
|Jun high C = 23.1
|Jul high C = 26.6
|Aug high C = 28.2
|Sep high C = 25.0
|Oct high C = 19.8
|Nov high C = 14.1
|Dec high C = 8.3
|year high C = 16.9
|Jan low C = -1.3
|Feb low C = -1.1
|Mar low C = 1.4
|Apr low C = 6.3
|May low C = 11.7
|Jun low C = 16.1
|Jul low C = 20.2
|Aug low C = 21.6
|Sep low C = 18.0
|Oct low C = 11.9
|Nov low C = 5.6
|Dec low C = 0.9
|year low C = 9.3
|Jan humidity = 66
|Feb humidity = 64
|Mar humidity = 61
|Apr humidity = 63
|May humidity = 70
|Jun humidity = 79
|Jul humidity = 83
|Aug humidity = 81
|Sep humidity = 78
|Oct humidity = 72
|Nov humidity = 68
|Dec humidity = 68
|year humidity = 71
|Jan sun = 149.0
|Feb sun = 154.7
|Mar sun = 178.6
|Apr sun = 193.7
|May sun = 191.9
|Jun sun = 143.7
|Jul sun = 126.3
|Aug sun = 144.5
|Sep sun = 128.0
|Oct sun = 147.0
|Nov sun = 143.4
|Dec sun = 136.3
|year sun = 1836.9
|Jan snow cm = 21
|Feb snow cm = 18
|Mar snow cm = 11
|Apr snow cm = 1
|May snow cm = 0
|Jun snow cm = 0
|Jul snow cm = 0
|Aug snow cm = 0
|Sep snow cm = 0
|Oct snow cm = 0
|Nov snow cm = 0
|Dec snow cm = 9
|year snow cm = 59
|unit precipitation days = 0.5 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 7.6
|Feb precipitation days = 7.2
|Mar precipitation days = 9.1
|Apr precipitation days = 9.2
|May precipitation days = 10.2
|Jun precipitation days = 12.3
|Jul precipitation days = 15.5
|Aug precipitation days = 12.7
|Sep precipitation days = 13.0
|Oct precipitation days = 9.6
|Nov precipitation days = 7.4
|Dec precipitation days = 7.9
|year precipitation days = 121.7
| Jan dew point C = -4
| Feb dew point C = -4
| Mar dew point C = -2
| Apr dew point C = 4
| May dew point C = 10
| Jun dew point C = 16
| Jul dew point C = 20
| Aug dew point C = 21
| Sep dew point C = 18
| Oct dew point C = 11
| Nov dew point C = 4
| Dec dew point C = -1
|source 1 = Japan Meteorological Agency<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/index.php?prec_no=34&block_no=47590&year=&month=&day=&view=|script-title=ja:平年値（年・月ごとの値)|trans-title=Normal values (yearly and monthly values)|publisher= [[Japan Meteorological Agency]]| access-date = May 19, 2021|language=ja}}</ref>
|source 2 = Time and Date (dewpoints, 1985-2015)<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/japan/sendai/climate
|title = Climate & Weather Averages in Sendai
|publisher = Time and Date
|access-date = 25 July 2022}}</ref>}}
<div style="width: 80%;"></div>
{{Graph:Weather monthly history
| table=Ncei.noaa.gov/weather/Sendai.tab
| title=Sendai temperature
}}