is a hot spring resort district in northern Japan about to the northwest of downtown
Sendai
is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...
,
Miyagi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the no ...
.
History
Local legend attributes the foundation of Sakunami Onsen to the wandering Buddhist priest
Gyōki
was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent.
Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, ...
in 721 AD In the early
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...
. The ''
Azuma Kagami
is a Japanese historical chronicle.
The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in 12 ...
'' records that
Minamoto no Yoritomo
was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...
visited the area during his campaign against the
Northern Fujiwara
The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese kuge, noble Japanese clans, family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.Hiraizumi.
Sakunami has a number of
ryokan
A is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features ''tatami''-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear yukata and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. du ...
which were founded in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
under the auspices of the
Sendai Domain
The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.
The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...
. The ''onsen'' cluster is on the steep banks of the Hirosegawa River that eventually flows through downtown Sendai.
Transport
Trains on the
Senzan Line
The is a railway line in Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it runs from Sendai Station in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture to Uzen-Chitose Station in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, acting as a connector between th ...
Yamagata Station
is a railway station in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
Lines
Yamagata Station is served by the following lines.
* Yamagata Shinkansen
* Ōu Main Line
* Senzan Line
* Aterazawa Line
Sta ...
stop at
Sakunami Station
is a railway station in Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
Lines
Sakunami Station is served by the Senzan Line, and is located 28.7 rail kilometers from the terminus of the line at .
...
, a trip that takes roughly 40 minutes from Sendai.