Last year in December a new Sendai Tourist Information Desk was opened in Fujisaki. Sendai Motions covered this event, becoming a witness of its birth.

Now, after more than a month since the information desk started its mission, we decided to ask one of the staff, Ms. Takayama, about her impression of this first month of work.

SM: Ms. Takayama, I guess this December was quite a busy month for you. Were there many tourists asking for your assistance?

Takayama: I wouldn’t say that it was busy. Normal, I guess. We had some tourists from Taiwan, Thailand, China and USA visiting us, but mostly we dealt with locals. Exchange students came a lot, I must say. And there were several foreigners who came to participate in conferences.

SM: So what was the most popular thing people wanted to know?

Takayama: A way to some place. Osaki Hachimangu is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations, but people wanted to know how can they find an Apple store, or where can they buy Musubimaru (Sendai mascot - a ball of rice in Date Masamune’s attire - SM). And we have helped many people during Pageant of Starlight!

SM: Were there any questions that you had difficulties to answer?

Takayama: Of course! There are so many things we don’t know! The hardest questions are about where can I buy something. Where can I buy a Japanese flag? Where can I buy escargot? Yes, there was a question about escargot. A girl from France wanted to know where can she buy it, so I advised her to go to Meijiya. A lot of rare imported products can be found there. 

SM: Did you have a chance to learn something new about Sendai?

Takayama: For me, the religious side of Sendai was a kind of revelation. I never knew that on Narita-san every Setsubun (Japanese New Year) famous actors from TV-drama come to participate in mame-maki (bean scattering). And I heard for the first time that there is a pilgrimage course of Seven gods of Fortune in Sendai. One more thing I was very glad to know - international calls are possible from every public phone. I thought it is hard to find. 

SM: How do you think, is there something you can do to improve your service?

Takayama: I want to try to be more active in promoting Miyagi on Facebook. And I want to know Sendai better. There are so many great places in Sendai, we just need to be a little bit more active to find them! 

We think, that Ms. Takayama is already doing a great job in promoting Sendai! If you want to know more about the things mentioned in this article, be sure to visit Fujisaki and ask the info at the information desk! And don’t forget to look forward to the new articles on Sendai Motions!

Official website: i-sendai.jp