1 / 6Shiogama ShrinePhoto: nnh / Public domain
Tap a photo to see it large. 6 photographs, every one credited.
Shiogama Shrine is the first shrine of Mutsu province, the whole of northern Honshu in the old administration, and the town is named after it.
Checked · Visited in person · times from official timetables and operators · Takumi Yamada
The head shrine of the region, up 202 stone steps on a hill over the harbour, with a vermilion gate and a view of the bay. Free and open every day; only the small museum (¥500) does not open on Thursdays.
- Our number 3 for Sendai–Shiogama, out of ten. It is the first thing we would spend the hours on.
- No charge listed for the grounds; museum ¥500 (¥200 for ages 70 and over, university age and under free) to visit — the shrine's pages list a charge only for the museum; a tourism-board listing shows no closing day for the grounds. The museum is free on 18 May..
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Perfect" — Hon-Shiogama is close to the shrine and to the harbour front, so it pairs with the market or a coffee on the quay.
- Shiogama Shrine gates 5:00 to 18:00 (Mar–Oct), to 17:00 (Nov–Feb); museum 9:00 to 16:00, closed Thursdays — the shrine says the grounds outside the gate can be visited freely even when the gate is closed. The museum opens on festival days that fall on a Thursday and can close for display changes..
- 2 hr 30 min door to door needs a 4.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Things worth knowing
- Take the front steps (202 of them) up, and use the east approach, about seven minutes on foot from Hon-Shiogama to its torii, if you want to avoid a second climb.
- Thursday means the museum is closed unless there is a festival that day.
- The museum's second floor shows a film of the salt-boiling ritual that the shrine's god is said to have taught.
- The museum is the only admission the shrine's site lists; there is nothing to book.
Shiogama Shrine and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 2 hr 30 min goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
If your ship is late, cut the 1 hr 30 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions people send us
How many steps are there at Shiogama Shrine?
The frontal approach, Omotezaka, has 202 stone steps up to a two-storey gate. It is a steady climb rather than a hike.
Is there an entry fee?
The shrine's pages list a charge only for the museum, which is ¥500. No charge for the grounds is listed.
How far is it from the station?
The shrine's own page gives about 15 minutes on foot from Hon-Shiogama Station, or about 3 minutes by taxi.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from the official timetables, with this stop in them.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~5hMatsushima: Godaido, the bay and Zuiganji
Some 260 pine-topped islets in a shallow bay, counted as one of Japan’s three classic views since the 17th century.
See the detail
Eat · ~2.5hGyutan in Sendai
Thick-cut beef tongue grilled over charcoal, with barley rice and oxtail soup: Sendai’s own dish since the late 1940s.
See the detail