Museum
Ishinomori Manga Museum
Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider. A spaceship-shaped museum on an island in the river mouth, rebuilt after the tsunami.
Shotaro Ishinomori created Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider and Himitsu Sentai Gorenger — the series that became Super Sentai, and then Power Rangers. The museum stands on Nakase, a small island in the mouth of the Kitakami river, in a building designed from his own sketch of a spaceship. The 2011 tsunami flooded it; it reopened in 2012.
Why it is worth it
Super Sentai became Power Rangers, which means a lot of people abroad grew up on this man's work without knowing his name.
When to go
Quiet outside the main holiday periods.
Good to know
Ishinomaki is about an hour from Sendai on the JR Senseki line, so it works as a day trip from a Sendai base. The walk from the station follows a street lined with Ishinomori character statues, and that walk is half the visit. The city was hit hard by the 2011 tsunami and there are memorials nearby; treat the area accordingly.