Adult admission to Sendai City Museum. Both monuments and the manhole covers are free and outdoors. Subway and bus fares are extra, and are set by the city, so check them on the day.
Getting to the start
Sendai Station. Every stop on this route is on the city subway from there, and the station is the terminus for airport and long-distance trains.
Best time to go
Any time of year. The route is mostly outdoors, so spring and autumn are the most comfortable, and Sendai winters are cold and windy.
Closing days
Sendai City Museum is closed on Mondays and over the new year, and last admission is 16:15. Kamei Arena Sendai itself is closed for renovations until March 2027.
Crowds
Quiet on weekdays. The museum fills up during its special exhibitions, and its car park is the first thing to fill, so come by subway.
Walking (our estimate)
Light: roughly a few kilometres in total, in three short walks. The longest single stretch is about 8 minutes from the subway to the museum.
What to bring
Comfortable shoes, a charged phone for the map, and an IC card (a prepaid travel card such as Suica) for the subway if you do not buy the one-day ticket. A small bag for rubbish. Cash or a card for the museum, which takes both.
Haikyu!! is set in Miyagi, and Sendai has quietly filled its streets with the proof. Character manhole covers run along a suburban road. Two bronze-and-glass monuments stand in front of a sports hall and a castle-ground museum, both put up by the city with the author's own new artwork. None of it is behind a ticket gate except the museum, and the whole loop runs on one subway line. This is a calm, cheap day out rather than a theme park, and it works just as well as a half day if your train back leaves early.
Times, fares and opening hours are approximate. Check the official pages under Sources before you go (last checked September 21, 2026).
Day 1
Sendai Station to Tomizawa, Aoba and the castle grounds
One subway line, three stops, two monuments and a street of manhole covers. Back at Sendai Station by evening.
Morning
Start at Sendai Station
Sendai Station is where the day starts and ends. Buy a one-day subway ticket at the machines before you set off: it pays for the hops below, and the museum treats it as a discount voucher. Take the Namboku Line, which is the north-south subway line, towards Tomizawa.
Morning
Walk the manhole covers to Tomizawa Park
Get off at Tomizawa and follow the road towards Kamei Arena Sendai. The Haikyu!! manhole covers are set into the pavement along the way, so keep your eyes down and your phone camera ready. The monument itself now stands in Tomizawa Park next door: the arena is shut for renovation until March 2027, and the monument was moved here in 2025. A taxi from Sendai Station takes about 25 minutes if you would rather skip the subway.
Ride the Namboku Line back north. The Oikawa and Iwaizumi monument stands in front of the Aoba Gymnasium, which the city now calls MOTOYAMA ENG. WORKS Aoba Arena. By road it is about 15 minutes from Tomizawa Park. It is an ordinary working sports hall rather than a visitor attraction, so look from outside, keep the entrance clear and do not go in unless an event invites you.
Return to Sendai Station and switch to the Tozai Line, the east-west subway line, towards Yagiyama Zoological Park. Get off at Kokusai Center, leave by exit South 1 and walk about 8 minutes past the international centre and the pond. The Haikyu!! monument is out front. If you want the museum itself, the last admission is 16:15, so come before then.
The Loople Sendai sightseeing bus leaves from stop 16 at the west exit bus pool of Sendai Station and reaches the museum in about 20 minutes, so it also makes an easy ride back. Sendai PARCO is about 3 minutes on foot from the station and has a Jump Shop, which is the usual place to find Haikyu!! goods. Sendai Station's own souvenir floors are the last stop before your train.
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Where to stay
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Sendai
Stay in
Sendai
Everything on this route is on the subway from Sendai Station, so anywhere near the station works. Staying the night also lets you start early if you are carrying on north or south by train.
One-day subway ticket (Sendai City Transportation Bureau)
One ticket covers the Namboku and Tozai subway lines for a day, which is exactly what this route needs. The museum accepts it as a discount voucher at the ticket desk, alongside the Loople Sendai one-day ticket and the combined subway and Loople ticket. Prices are set by the city, so check the machine or the counter on the day.
A loop bus from the west exit bus pool of Sendai Station, stop 16. It reaches the museum, international centre and Ryokusaikan stop in about 20 minutes, then it is about 3 minutes on foot. It is slower than the subway but it passes the castle grounds, and a one-day ticket for it is also a museum discount.
The manhole covers are in a live road. Stand on the pavement, look before you step out and do not stop traffic for a photo.
The Aoba Gymnasium is a working sports hall and the museum is a public museum. Keep entrances clear, keep your voice down and do not block the monuments for other people.
Karasuno High School is not a real school you can visit, and the schools in the area are ordinary schools with children in them. Please stay away from school grounds.
Take your rubbish with you. Sendai's streets have very few bins, so carry a bag until you find one at a station or a convenience store.
FAQ
Can I see Kamei Arena Sendai, the gymnasium from the prefectural tournament?
Not inside, for now. The arena is closed for major renovations from May 21, 2025 to March 2027, and the monument that stood at its south entrance was moved to Tomizawa Park next door. You can still walk the manhole covers on the road towards it.
How much does the day cost?
Very little. Both monuments and the manhole covers are outdoors and free. The only fixed charge is the museum. Adults and university students pay about ¥460, high school students about ¥230, and primary and junior high school students about ¥110. Subway fares are on top.
Is one day enough?
Yes for Sendai. If you want the author's home town as well, that is Karumai in Iwate, north of here. The town's cultural centre keeps a free Haikyu!! reading corner in its bus waiting room, with the full Japanese set plus 35 volumes in English and one in French. The centre is closed on Mondays and over the new year, so check the day before you travel and allow a separate day for the trip.
What is open on a Monday?
The monuments and the manhole covers, all of them. The museum closes on Mondays, so on a Monday you get the outdoor half of the route and can spend the rest of the day in central Sendai.
Can I do this with a rail pass?
A rail pass gets you to Sendai, but the subway and the Loople bus are run by the city, not by JR, so you pay for those separately. Buy the one-day subway ticket at the station and keep it: the museum takes it as a discount.
Combine with nearby routes
Have more days? These routes start or end close to this one.
