Transportation

Public Transportation

For information in English on using public transportation in Sendai see the following link.

https://www.kotsu.city.sendai.jp/english/bus/norikata.html

A quick and easy way to visit a lot of the main tourist attractions is to take the Loople Bus. This bus follows a circular course around the city in one direction only. For everything you need to know about Loople see the following site.
http://loople-sendai.jp/en/

Buses and trains are clean, easy to use and run regularly and on time. It is very convenient to use the Suica card available from JR East. This is a debit card which you can charge with money using machines at Sendai station. These cards can be used all over the Kanto and Tohoku regions, including Tokyo. They can also be used for shopping, especially in shops in and around stations.
For information on buying and using Suica cards see the following link.
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html

You can ride buses easily if you have a Suica card. Just touch the card to the sensor when you get on (watch how others do it) and then touch the sensor next to the driver when getting off. The Suica cards can also be used on the Sendai subway.

Taxis

Taxis are also a good way to get around, and if there are two or three of you not so expensive. The drivers usually don't speak English too well so it is helpful to have your destination written in Japanese or to have a map which has place names written in both English and Japanese. Google maps is very useful for this. You can flag down taxis anywhere just by waving at them. Especially in the central area there are usually plenty around.

Bicycle Rental

The Date Bicycle Rental Service has bicycle stations all over the central area of Sendai. Renting a bicycle is a cheap and healthy way to get around (as long as the weather is good). For information on using the Date bicycles see the following link.

https://docomo-cycle.jp/sendai/en/

Driving in Japan

As you probably know, you drive on the left in Japan, so if you are from Britain or Australia you will find things to be familiar. Japanese drivers are generally corteous, but like anywhere there are some extremely aggressive drivers as well. Be prepared for people to stop anywhere, without much warning. A lot of urban streets are narrow, without any room on the side for parking, so it is quite common for people to stop for a short time to pop into a shop or something, causing other cars to stop and go around them. This is normal so don't get impatient and sound the car horn. It won't do any good anyway.
Be careful of bicycles and motor scooters. Especially bicycles can appear suddenly from side streets and give you a scare. Remember that in Japan the bigger vehicle is usually considered to be in the wrong, so even if a bicycle suddenly runs in front of you and you hit them, it will be your fault. Same for pedestrians, in most cases if you hit a pedestrian you will be in the wrong, so be very careful. Because roads are narrow there are often no sidewalks so pedestrians share the road with motor vehicles, so it pays to keep your wits about you.
Speed limits are set very low, usually 40 kilometers an hour (about 25 miles per hour) in built up areas. On regular country roads it is usually about 50 kmh and on expressways it can be from 80 kmh to 110 kmh, depending on the area. In general Japanese drivers drive at 10 kmh above the speed limit. There is virtually no chance of being booked for speeding if you do so. Driving above that speed might result in a ticket. Radar traps are quite common so be careful. On the expressways you are probably safe as long as you don't go over 120 kmh. There are plenty of unmarked police cars cruising the expressways.
Almost all expressways are toll roads, and they are not cheap.　For example from Sendai to Kawaguch Junction near Tokyo, a distance of about 340 km, the charge is about 8,500 yen. Almost as much as a bullet train ticket from Sendai to Tokyo. However the expressways do have excellent service areas, with great eating places and souvenir shops. Some of them even have hotels.
A lot of gasoline stations are self serve, with the transaction taking place at the pump. These pumps usually don't speak English so can be difficult to use if you don't know any Japanese. So it is probably best to look for a gasoline stand which isn't self serve. There are quite a lot of these. Just say "Mantan" (fill it up). Self-serve stations usually have a big sign saying "セルフ" (Self in Japanese), with a picture of a hand holding a gasoline pump nozzle.