Catholicism
The Catholic Church has been associated with Sendai since 1613, the year in which Date Masamune, daimyo of Sendai, built a galleon to send an embassy to the Pope in Rome headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga. Although the embassy was successful in its aim of establishing relations with the Holy See, Masamune's plans were frustrated by the suppression of Christianity in Japan. The diocese of Sendai (previously the diocese of Hakodate) was established in 1891, only two years after the promulgation of a new constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion in Japan, in 1889. The Bishop of Sendai currently oversees the four northern prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate and Aomori, serving 11,152 Catholics in 56 parishes. Mototerakoji, the Cathedral of the diocese, is located a few blocks north of Sendai Station
