SENDAI—Suspended by ropes, repair workers rappel down and across the shiny white face of a 100-meter-tall standing Buddhist statue here. The specialized high-altitude conservators do not use ...

Sendai, on the Japanese island of Honshu, is the largest city in the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan. It was founded in 1601 by Date Masamune, a samurai whose name is known to all Japanese.