Sendai - Tohoku's biggest city with 1.1 million people And the place I've been lucky to call home for almost three years now with more tourists visiting the region than ever before Today we're gonna take a look at what to do in the city and the surrounding area From one of Japan's most famous and picturesque coastal towns and a local fishing port home to more sushi restaurants per capita than anywhere else in Japan To a terrifying statue towering over the city We'll discover some of the iconic dishes, stunning scenery and vibrant people that make Sendai a worthy weekend trip away from Tokyo There's no way we can make a video about Sendai without inviting a local celebrity Somebody who was born here, somebody who knows the area and somebody who's lived here for at least 300 years now without further ado, it's Ryotaro! How you doing? Very well. Celebrity, you're right about that. I was being sarcastic Don't be shy just see the sad truth, you're right Don't let it go to your head again All right. So where are we Ryotaro? Where is this picturesque place we stand upon now? So this is where the Sendai Castle used to be It used to be here, there's no castle anymore but there's the ruins of Sendai Castle Yes, if you come to Sendai Castle expecting a castle, you're going to be somewhat disappointed It got hit by lightning? There was a fire It got burnt down, like most castles in Japan it got burnt down Most castles in Japan are actually rebuilt, but in Sendai they didn't bother Instead they put a big statue here of Lord Masamune Date - the guy that founded Sendai and the local area He tried to unite Japan actually, but he couldn't He couldn't do it? No, he couldn't do it We can't all get what we want in life Exactly But if you've just arrived in Sendai I think this is a good starting point Because you've got one of the best views, the best view of Sendai by far And you can also try one of Sendai's most famous and popular dishes So while you're up here at Sendai castle, you can enjoy the first local dish of Sendai Which is actually a milkshake, Zunda milkshake For the longest time I got Zunda confused with Zumba - the Brazilian dance Equally as intriguing But this is made of edamame, green beans, green soybeans that have been chopped up and mixed into the milkshake I never wanted to try it because I thought how can that possibly be appealing? For years on end he was like "Try zunda milkshake! Try zunda milkshake!" Well I said that And I said I'll take it at my own pace - my own pace is three years Then I came up here two months ago, tried it, fell in love with it Now you're addicted, obsessed with it! I'm addicted and obsessed with it How many have you had today already? This is our third one. But I needed two to remind myself of the flavour. Remind yourself, right... And the flavour is vanilla ice cream with a hint of salt and a kind of nutty undertone It gives it a very moreish addictive taste. Trying your best to explain how it tastes That's how you describe things This is the best place to experience it, to try it, sitting here overlooking Sendai Staring at the giant terrifying white statue in the distance Look at this - this is Daikannon Actually means "goddess of mercy" When this was built in 1991, it was not popular at all by local people - and still isn't When this was built in 1991, it was the tallest statue in the entire world Now it's only the sixth tallest statue But as Ryotaro said, its reputation isn't that great with the locals Because it wasn't built by a temple, it wasn't built by a church or anyone it was just built by a rather rich company, who had a bit too much money to spend leftover That said, it is an incredible statue and you can go inside it There's lots of mini statues and things but personally I wouldn't bother I'll just come here, get a little photo for Instagram and move on In recent years Sendai a5 Wagyu has joined the ranks of Japan's top cuts of beef And today we've come to try Sendai beef served in four different recipes And joining us for our tasting is an actual genuine celebrity this time The most successful foreign musician living in Japan - frontman of pop rock group Monkey Majik, Blaise Plant Who as well as being a resident of Sendai, is also our friend. So Blaise, cheers for joining today. Thanks for having me Chris, appreciate it Difficult job, reviewing Sendai beef By the way, Ryotaro is here. You can see him in the mirror ladies and gentlemen Somewhere around here... I'll see here and then we'll block him out So this restaurant specializes in Sendai beef and they've got a variety, pretty much every variety of Sendai beef known to man We've got sushi, which has come out first. We've got steak and we've got shabu shabu coming later. And sukiyaki later on as well Sendai gyu is one of the highest ranked beef cuts in Japan And can only be bred by licensed farmers And with a rank of A5 denoting the obscenely marbled cuts of beef It's not long before our favorite inevitable phrase makes an appearance That meat just melts in your mouth, you could probably eat it with a straw Melts in your mouth doesn't it We've filmed beef quite a lot in these videos. We've used the phrase "melt in your mouth" maybe 300 times in the last 2 years So we vowed to never use it again So now whenever I eat beef I can't use that phrase Really why not? Yeah, because I just feel like it's unoriginal But it's all right, because you're here we can get around that Is there another way of saying "melt in your mouth" without using the phrase "melt in your mouth" though? Cuz I'll be damned if there is - there isn't. If there is let us know in the comments! Round 2 is shabu shabu You take a thin slice of A5 beef you put it in some hot water About 10 to 15 seconds and BANG! It's cooked, ready to go. Put it in some yuzu sauce, stick it in your mouth - job done. Question is, how does it taste? Mr. Blaise, and remember you can't use the phrase "melt in your mouth" I know, I was just thinking about that You've already used your trump card once this time Gotcha. All right, well you know what? I'm gonna have to say... Umarvellous! Umarvellous! Am I okay to say that, or? He's just quoted his brand new song Disgusting isn't it? You have someone in your videos and they start promoting their stuff. Sorry man, you gave me the opportunity Your new song is Umarvellous, which is a combination of UMAI meaning delicious in Japanese and marvellous meaning, marvellous innit There's a dance that goes along with it too, so He really wants you to watch that video It is a good video, especially the 80s aesthetic in the video It's an homage to our good old friends Earth Wind & Fire Check it out So our last dish is Sendai gyu in steak form Blaise's is already gone I said Blaise, let's just wait so we can film it No, it's gone Of the ridiculous amount of sendai gyu based dishes we've had today, which one was your favourite? Well there was a lot of beef that was eaten today, so it's kind of hard to... A staggering amount But I gotta say the sukiyaki Just because Sendai gyu goes really well with it just because of that sweet marble If you're in a hurry and you're looking to try another iconic meaty dish Sendai's most famous food is gyutan, literally barbecued beef tongue Popular in the city since the late 1940s Barbecued to perfection and flavored with salt or miso - gyutan is typically served along barley rice and tail soup You'll have no trouble stumbling upon the dish whilst wandering around the Sendai station area Just follow the salty scent of the grilled beef and you'll be on the right track So Blaise, you've lived in Sendai 18 years Yeah, where would you recommend to people visiting Sendai for the first time, somewhere that's actually good I've got a great place for you guys! When you go straight out to the coast, there's another town called Matsushima It's one of the most beautiful places you'll ever visit Definitely on your bucket list Matsushima Matsushima So, this is Matsushima Bay It's one of the three historic scenic sites in Japan along with Miyajima in Hiroshima and Amanohashidate in Kyoto It's quite a buzzing atmosphere, there's lots of things going on Dozens of ferries going out every hour Restaurants and stalls, temples and people here just to escape the city And given that it's only half an hour away from Sendai, it's definitely worth a visit So in Matsushima Bay there are 264 islands And the best way to see that is to take a ferry and it costs about 1500 yen So if you're coming to Matsushima the most popular dish to eat typically are oysters Which you can find at pretty much any restaurant along the waterfront But we popped in for something a little bit more light today - kinako sando The best way to describe it is it's profiterole meets meringue. It's got a kind of crispy outer shell of meringue with the softness of a profiterole But there's a difference in there There's a cream in there right? You'll find that That cream actually, it's made out of the roasted soy flour and also butter and egg white actually You know it's good because when Ryotaro and I are filming we usually do a few takes but we've only had time to do one take this time Given that I've basically eaten it all already Yeah, because otherwise, you know, not gonna be able to film anymore. We have to get it right the first time today. I think if there's one thing to do or see in Matsushima, it's this. This is Ensuin Gardens, Ensuin Temple Just behind Matsushima Bay behind the waterfront There's this beautiful sprawling garden that feels like a compilation of all the best bits of Kyoto rolled into one We've got the rock garden. We have a bamboo forest. temples, shrines And these really cool cave carvings that look like something out of Indiana Jones If there's one place you've got to come, this is it I always bring people here and they absolutely love it. Best of all apparently Einstein came here in the 1920s So if you do come here you're walking in the footsteps of Einstein. If that doesn't sell it to you - nothing will. Just ten minutes south of Matsushima is the port town of Shiogama Which holds the record for having the most sushi restaurants per capita of anywhere in Japan That's not just because Shiogama is historically a major port town But because of the way the tuna is supplied to the local sushi restaurants So if you're in Sendai and you want to get some sushi, when you get the best freshest sushi around most people come to the nearby town of Shiogama Which is just next to the city on the coast And in-between Matsushima and Sendai Shiogama, what does literally Shiogama mean? Well shio means salt And gama means pot Salt pot. That's how you remember it - get that meme in your head Yeah Shiogama faces the sea and they used to make salt from the sea water Because Shiogama's got the biggest raw tuna market So when you go to a sushi restaurant Surely all sushi's raw right? Well it is, but when the fishermen catch sushi right, they actually make tuna frozen normally So when they go to the market and defrost the tuna, and that's how it's delivered to the sushi restaurant in the end However in Shiogama it's the biggest raw tuna market. So it gets refrigerated only it doesn't get frozen So when you eat the tuna it comes in the freshest state It's about as fresh as it gets. Exactly. So why are we still talking? Dig in This is seriously good Amazing. Obviously you can get sushi anywhere in Japan, and they're all fresh But the quality, and cost performance "Cost performance?" Good cost performance. What an elegant romantic way of explaining it Mmm you can taste the cost performance Earlier on Ryotaro mentioned that the best way to see Matsushima Bay is to hop on a ferry But if you have a little bit more time to spare or you just love fishing there is a slightly more adventurous alternative available So we're out here in the middle of Matsushima Bay in what might be the world's smallest boat It's a little bit scary. But other than that, it's a very calm beautiful evening! There was a typhoon yesterday that swept through the area and we're now experiencing the calm after the storm So it's actually very nice Today if we don't catch any fish. We don't have any dinner So let's go and see how Mr. Ryotaro is getting on with the fishing. How good are you actually at fishing? Very good, very good. Genuinely? Well yeah, I mean like the last time I fished I was 12 And I was really good back then. Did they have fishing rods back in the 1920s? Here we go! Even Ryotaro caught something Yeah I did! This is gonna be tempura! Yeah, look at that! It's a gobi So while I've been flying the drone everybody's been picking up sticks and just been beating the sea hitting the sea This is either some weird Japanese tradition that I don't know about, or there is actually a reason behind it. Let's find out So we we have set up a net and we're actually hitting the surface of the sea to actually surprise the fish so that it goes all the way there and goes into the net They all said there is no point of actually fishing with a rod when you can actually do this because they got a lot of fish by doing this You're just banging it on the side of the boat Having beaten the sea with sticks for 20 minutes We reel in the net and head back to shore to turn the spoils of our trip into a fresh mouth-watering supper So welcome to Ryotaro's Kitchen Oh god. And what we've got here is actually... It's the channel nobody's been waiting for... So this is it. There's spoils of a fishing trip well done I'm pretty happy with what we've caught, what you've caught. Well done! To think you actually did something of value for once The greater Sendai area is the perfect place to spend a weekend away from Tokyo If not for the city then certainly to escape to the coast For more information and all the fantastic locations we visited on our trip You can find all the details in the description box below But as always guys, thanks for watching. Thank you. We'll see you next time! Let's go and enjoy Ryotaro's cooking. I love how you've got all these freshly caught fish then we've just got some hotdogs Freshly caught from Matsushima Bay! Umarvellous To be fair that could be a really good bround, bround breaking... Bround breaking, what are you talking about? Jesus christ...
This is one of my favourite Ryotaro episodes, due to the fact the sushi we ate was probably the best I’ve ever had!
Ryotaro is such a handsome MF.