Japan · Miyagi-ken
Where to Stay in Natori-shi, Miyagi-ken
Natori is a coastal city in Miyagi, Japan, just south of Sendai, rebuilt from the great tsunami of 2011.
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Where to stay in Natori-shi
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Where you stay in Natori turns on the town or the shore. The town centre and the airport keep the shops, the stations, and the transport within reach, and staying inland suits anyone here for the city. Flat green rice country spreads around Natori.
Rooms sit among the rice fields. Out toward Yuriage and the rebuilt coast, the town meets the sea. A room by the shore trades the centre for the memorial, the new sea walls, and the wide flat ocean.
The grey sea opens past the edge. If you want the shops and the airport, stay inland; if you want the coast, take a room by the shore. Whichever you choose, the city is never far.
About Natori-shi
Natori is a coast city marked by the great tsunami.
What is Natori-shi known for?
On the plain south of Sendai its fishing quarter of Yuriage was swept away by the waves of 2011, and the rebuilt town keeps a memorial to the lost, along with ancient burial mounds, a set of old Kumano shrines, and the region's main airport. The sea lies flat beyond the fields. Loss and renewal mark the city.
What are the main landmarks in Natori-shi?
The tsunami memorial stands on the coast at Natori. A hall and a mound of refuge at Yuriage keep the memory of the wave of 2011, the mark of the town, by the sea. Ancient tombs lie on the plain.
The Raijinyama burial mounds rise among the fields, while the three Kumano shrines and the rebuilt fishing port mark the coast of Natori.
What is the history of Natori-shi?
Natori is an old plain with a wounded coast. On its fields stand burial mounds from ancient times, the Raijinyama tombs among them, and long ago pilgrims raised three Kumano shrines here, a little Kumano of the north brought from the far Kii coast. The town grew on farming and fishing.
Yuriage on the shore was a busy fishing port, and the plain grew rice, while the region's airport rose on the flats to serve Sendai. Then the sea came in on a terrible day. On the eleventh of March 2011 a great earthquake sent a wall of water over the coast, and the waves swept far inland across the plain, drowning Yuriage and the airport and taking hundreds of lives.
The town rose again from the mud. People rebuilt their homes on higher ground, raised sea walls and a mound of refuge, and made a memorial and a museum to hold the memory of the day. The shrines still stand on the plain.
Natori keeps its memory and its coast south of Sendai.
Where is Natori-shi?
Natori lies on the coast of Miyagi in northern Japan, just south of Sendai. The city sits on a flat coastal plain of rice fields between the hills and the Pacific, where a river runs out to the sea, on the Sendai plain. Low hills rise to the west.
The wide sea spreads to the east.
What is the climate of Natori-shi?
Natori has a cool, humid climate. Warm summers and cold winters cross the plain, with snow in the cold months, and the rains come with the summer and the autumn typhoons, tempered by the sea. Sea winds chill the coast in winter.
The plain stays green through the summer.
How do you get to Natori-shi?
Natori lies just south of Sendai on the coast of Miyagi. Trains and the highway run to it from Sendai down the plain, and the region's airport sits within the city. Bus lines tie Natori to the shore towns along the plain.
Most arrive by train or plane from Sendai.
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Updated August 2026