About 1 hour by car from Sendai Station, and about the same from Sendai Airport. By train, the house is about 1.5 km from Kakuda Station — a 20-minute walk, or 3 minutes by taxi.
A destination that blends history, space exploration, and local mystique. Kakuda City in Miyagi Prefecture is conveniently located approximately one hour from Sendai by car or train. Just far enough to escape the urban bustle, yet near enough for easy access—the perfect distance.
Just a one-minute walk from our guesthouse stands the legendary Marusen storehouse, known for its tales of the zashiki-warashi (a household guardian spirit of Japanese folklore). Celebrated across television and social media, it has become a sought-after power spot for visitors seeking an authentic cultural experience.
Kakuda is also renowned as a "gourmet destination." The city's iconic H-II Rocket full-scale model at Taiyama Park, combined with historic temples and shrines, creates a unique blend of old and new. We invite you to explore this distinctive town where tradition and innovation coexist.
Saifuku stands on Kakuda's main street — not a preserved showpiece but a working shopping street where people still live. The sweet shops, the bakery and the small restaurants are all within a few minutes on foot. You can leave the car where it is and spend a whole day on foot.
* Opening hours and closing days change from time to time; please check before setting out. Many of these small family-run shops accept cash only, and Sundays and Mondays are common closing days, so it is worth carrying yen and planning around them.
Kakuda sits close to the centre of southern Miyagi — the Pacific coast and the Zao mountains are about equally far in either direction.
Marumori, Ogawara, Shibata Abukuma Line boat descent / Sairi Yashiki merchant estate / Hitome Senbonzakura cherry-lined riverbank / Funaoka Castle Park
Watari, Yamamoto, Murata, Shiroishi Strawberry picking / Torinoumi lagoon and Arahama fishing port / Murata's street of merchant storehouses / Shiroishi Castle
Iwanuma, Miyagi Zao Fox Village Kanahebisui Shrine's ancient wisteria and peonies / a woodland where around 100 foxes roam free
Togatta Onsen, Shichikashuku, Sendai Airport, central Sendai Public bathhouses and kokeshi doll painting / Nametsu Falls and Lake Chorogi
Zao Okama An emerald-green crater lake at 1,600 m (late April to early November)
Picking a destination by mood is often quicker than picking one off a map. Here are five ways to spend a day.
Saifuku is a merchant house of a hundred years ago. Several families in this region prospered in trade in the same era, and their houses still stand. Staying here is already part of a journey through that history.
The Abukuma River runs through Kakuda and Marumori. Boats are poled down the gorge by a boatman, and the trip changes character with every season.
Drive about 30 minutes east and you reach the Pacific. In these coastal towns, what is on the table changes from month to month.
An hour west lies Zao. Climb, soak, and still be back at the hundred-year-old house the same evening.
Cherry blossom in southern Miyagi opens in sequence by altitude, over about a month. The house sits in the middle of that sequence, close enough to reach the trees first thing in the morning, before anyone else arrives.
There is something here whenever you come. If your dates are already set, start from this table.
| Month | Scenery & events | Food |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | Swans at Teshirogi Pond and on the Shiroishi River / juhyo snow-covered trees on Zao / kotatsu boats / Donto-sai fire festival and hadaka-mairi procession (evening of the 14th, Kakuda) | Strawberries at peak sweetness / hokkimeshi / seri (Japanese parsley) hot pot |
| Feb | Juhyo at its fullest / Sairi Hina Doll Festival (Marumori) / Kokeshi Hina Festival (Zao) | Strawberries / hokkimeshi / Yuriage ark shell |
| Mar | Kakuda Muhime Hina Doll Festival / Takekoma Shrine Hatsuuma Festival (Iwanuma) / early Kawazu cherry blossom (Ogawara) | Strawberries / hokkimeshi (until late in the month) |
| Apr | Hitome Senbonzakura / Kakuda Rapeseed Blossom Festival / Funaoka Castle Park / snow corridor on the Zao Echo Line / Kanahebisui Shrine flower festival | Coho salmon harakomeshi (from early April) / bamboo shoots |
| May | Kakuda Space Kids Festival (the 5th, Taiyama Park) / Kuryu-no-Fuji wisteria and peonies / Marumori National Market / Shiroishi Spring Festival / late cherry blossom (Shichikashuku) | Wild trout harakomeshi / broad beans / bamboo shoots |
| Jun | Shibata Hydrangea Festival / Kawarago Hydrangea Road (Shiroishi) / hydrangeas along the Tokurasan temple path / Togatta street performance festival | Kakuda plum festival / shirasu whitebait, at its northern limit here |
| Jul | Yamamoto Sunflower Festival (2 million blooms) / handheld-firework night (Kawasaki) / Yaegaki Shrine portable-shrine procession out to sea / evening river cruises | Coho salmon harakomeshi (until early July) / shirasu |
| Aug | Sairi Genya (Marumori, 1,000 painted lanterns) / Shichikashuku Fire Festival / Natori Summer Festival fireworks / costumed Bon dance at Togatta / Nishine rice-paddy art | Harakomeshi season opens (late August at the earliest restaurants) / peach picking |
| Sep | Shibata Red Spider Lily Festival (500,000 flowers) / Tohoku Mirai art fireworks (Watari) / Takekoma Shrine autumn festival / first autumn colour on Zao | Harakomeshi / pear and grape picking |
| Oct | Imoni hot-pot boats / Oni-Kojuro Festival (Shiraishi, battle re-enactment) / autumn colour in Shichikashuku / Kakuda Zunda Festival / Murata storehouse pottery market | Harakomeshi at its best / apple picking / new-harvest soba |
| Nov | Autumn colour at Fudoson Park (Marumori) / Zaimokuiwa Park (Shiraishi) / curtains of drying persimmons at Kouya / the swans begin to arrive | Dried persimmons / new-harvest soba / seri |
| Dec | Space Christmas (Taiyama Park, the rocket lit up) / kotatsu boats begin / Kodanarie illuminations (Yamamoto) / cherry-tree illuminations (Ogawara) | Strawberry picking opens / hokkimeshi / seri hot pot |
* Dates shift a little from year to year. In winter there is snow on the mountain side (Zao and Shichikashuku) and winter tyres are required. The Zao Echo Line and Okama are normally closed from early November to late April.
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