Sendai, situated in the north-west of the island of Honshu, possesses the brash charm of a city dominated by administration, commercial and office buildings, many of which were erected in the 1970s and 80s. With a population of about one million, it is not even a large city by Japanese standards. Although it was originally focused around a palace complex built during the Date dynasty, Sendai had few sights of interest until recently. With the completion of the media centre in January this year, the city now boasts a new attraction. The centre is a municipal facility and contains a library, two galleries, an information centre for the disabled, a multimedia-library with a cinema, seminar rooms and a café on the ground floor.