More from around Kotodai Koen subway station

 The area along this street is called Kokubuncho and it is the 'red zone' of Sendai. There is a huge number of bars in the area. When I first came to Sendai, it was pretty wild, but it has been cleaned up a bit in recent years. The bar girls are more discrete now and there are fewer ads along the street.

 This is a chain coffee shop. It is quite cheap and very good for the price. They also serve cakes and sandwiches. I particularly like their chili dogs, a sausage on a bun and covered with chili.

 This is a chain restaurant that sells Chinese style food. They are famous for gyoza, dumplings, and for large but delicious servings. More than 30 years ago I frequently had lunch in one of their restaurants. As you can see there is a long line waiting to get in. Because of the constant long lines, I have not yet eaten here even though it has been open for more than a year.

 This is a famous fruit market. The prices are a little high but the fruit is better than excellent.

 This shop sells knives. Japanese cooks tend to use specialize knives for each kind of food, so every city has a number of shops selling a great variety of knives.

I keep wondering when this is going to disappear. It is a public phone booth. Now that so many people have cell phones, public phones get very little use. I have not seen anyone actually inside this one for years.