Fascinating Nagoya, Japan, In 15 Spots

Fascinating Nagoya, Japan, in 15 spots

By Anna Purpurpurpur

Nagoya, Japan, really surprised me: it’s such an incredible city, and I don’t wonder why tourists haven’t yet flooded it! However, lucky we visited it without the crowds; we will be glad to return there one day.

Overall, travelling around Japan is an entirely different experience right now: now we have Google Maps working, taxi apps, and many people really learnt English — I think, for the Olympic games. But I really strangely miss those vibes when you wander around without knowing where you are going. Nagoya made me nostalgic for those times.

See 15 sights and experiences you mustn’t miss when you’re there!

1. Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle is one of Japan’s most famous castles, and you must see it with your own eyes! It was even the first castle to be designated a National Treasure!

It was built between 1612 and 1615 during the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu (yes, the one who founded the shogunate that lasted until Meiji’s restoration in 1868). It’s one of the biggest castles in the country, with the largest floor space in the main keep. You can still see the inscriptions on the stone walls marking the contribution of the feudal lords who were appointed for its construction.

Sadly, the castle and the Hommaru palace (I’ll show it later) were mainly destroyed during WWII. However, palace screen paintings and corner towers survived the fire. As you can see, now’s been magnificently restored, and you can walk its premises that include a garden and a tea house.

There’s also a food market within the castle’s premises. At the market, I finally tried sweet potato ice cream: yes, those purple spaghetti are a delicious dessert! Crepes with strawberries and bananas were very good, too. You could borrow a tatami to have a picnic here.

We were lucky to spot a little enactment from the daimyo – feudal lords – time of the castle by Nishinomaru Enokida Gate.

2. Honmaru palace

Honmaru Palace is the most magnificent one I’ve seen in Japan so far! It was completed in 1615 for the use of the feudal lords of Owari and fully restored in 2018 after the destruction of WWII. The abundance of surviving historical materials ensures the authenticity of the restoration.

You walk along the halls – there are over 30 rooms there in total – with the most precious screen paintings depicting tigers, leopards, colourful birds and landscape drawings, learning about the purpose of each room.

During your route, you walk through a series of the rooms, both private and reception chambers: Omote Shoin, or the Main Hall; Taimenjo, or the Reception Hall; Jorakuden, or Shogun Accommodation Facilities, the most luxurious room of them all decorated by the best craftsmen of the time for Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Edo shogun; Kuroki Shoin, or Inner Reception Hall; and the bathing facilities.

Precious Cypress wood is easy to spot – take your time to appreciate it as you walk by. You can also pop into the shop near the main keep if you’d like some books on the history of the place or souvenirs with iconic tiger images!

3. City hall

Nagoya City Hall is located not far from the Nagoya Castle. It’s an administrative building with historical value, too: it was built in the Imperial Crown style, combining Western and Japanese influences, and, unlike many other places in the city, survived WWII raids.

4. Nagoya City Science Museum

Nagoya City Science Museum is usually called an unmissable attraction of Nagoya. The building with a large sphere in the middle is remarkable, and it’s home to one of the world’s largest planetariums. In front of it, there’s the Nagoya City Art Museum.

However, the collection itself is pretty old school: it showcases some basic principles of chemistry, physics and biology (it’s fun, especially for kids who are introduced to it for the first time, but for a person with a science degree like me, it’s a bit boring).

We also attended a temporary exhibition on the Oceans there. Almost all the information there was given only in Japanese.

5. Ghibli Park

Ghibli Park is a newly opened theme park dedicated to Studio Ghibli characters! It opened in 2022 on the grounds of Expo 2005, so during your visit, you can see the pavilions of Ghibli Park and Aichi Commemorative Park together.

Now, five different areas are open: Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse — the only part you must enter at a particular time; Hill of Youth; Dondoko Forest; Valley of Witches; and Mononoke Village. You can visit some attractions only with Premium pass tickets. The tickets for foreigners are limited, so remember to book yours two months before your trip.

6. Oasis 21

Is that a UFO in the centre of Nagoya? No, it’s Oasis 21, which opened in 2002.

That’s a bus terminal where you can find some restaurants and shops in the underground part, but the most prominent feature is a fantastic glass roof with a small fountain that gleams with colourful lights. This top oval part with lighted pathways is called Spaceship—Aqua and is a must-visit for any tourist!

7. Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER

This is not the Eiffel Tower; that’s Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER!

Known as Nagoya TV Tower until 2021, it was built in 1954 and is one of Tachi Naito’s masterpieces. By the way, Tachi Naito introduced new earthquake-proof concepts and is also the architect behind Tokyo Tower. And now this tower is open to public. and you can see all Nagoya from I!

After the recent renovation, a hotel occupied a few floors, and there is a 90-meter-high Sky Deck and a 100-metre-high Sky Balcony. And look at this view over Oasis 21 and Nagoya castle from it!

During our visit, there was The Naked Sakura Tower art project: the cherry blossoms, along with some other spring flowers, are projected on the windows of the observation deck.

8. Osu Kannon

Initially, it was founded around 1333 and built in Ōsu-gō (a village in Owari province, now known as Hashima). Still, in 1612 it was moved to Nagoya by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

It’s dedicated to Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Apart from being an important religious site, it’s also home to the Shinpukuji Library, which contains over 15,000 precious ancient texts, such as the oldest Records of Ancient Matters in the earliest history of Japan. All the buildings you see here today date to the 20th century, as the temple was burnt down during WWII.

There’s also a small monument of Tokugawa Muneharu, one of the lords of the Owari clan who immensely helped this city to prosper.

9. Osu Shopping Arcade

Just on the temple’s side is a large Osu Shopping Arcade — actually, it’s a whole district with a few hundred shops and cafes!

You can spend half a day here if you enjoy such activities. Personally, I want a bit of crane games, but I can say I can play them very successfully.

11. Bansho-ji temple

When you walk around Osu Shopping Arcade, spot you the Bansho-ji temple: it looks very modern with mechanised figures of Oda Nobunaga but in reality it dates to the 17th century and was rebuilt after WWII.

Oda Nobunaga’s father’s funeral was held in this temple (but as I understood, the temple used to be in the different location at the time of that event).

11. Hisaya-Odori Park

Hisaya-Odori Park is a lovely green area where you can stroll around and observe one of the main symbols of Nagoya: the Mirai Tower. This area was devastated during WWII, so it was decided to turn it into a park.

Closer to the Mirai Tower, there’s a pond with lovely shops and cafes: Ralph Lauren, Coach, and so on, and the Chinese restaurant there was pretty good.

12. Higashi Betsuin Temple

Higashi Betsuin Temple is a tranquil Buddhist temple founded by a monk on Oda Nobuhide’s Furawatari castle grounds. The temple was erected in 1690 and rebuilt in the early 19th century. Unfortunately, it was entirely destroyed during WWII.

Now you can see its restored version dating to 1962 – the large bell there is original.

13. Parco shopping mall

If you’re looking for a place to shop, head to Parco shopping mall! It’s located in the city centre, and you can find everything you’re looking for there: fashion items, makeup and skincare products, and cafes. I also really adored their section on cute goodies.

14. PG Cafe

PG cafe is a penguin cafe in the very centre of Nagoya! I bet this is the cutest thing you’ve seen recently.

Look at this set of desserts: doughnuts, pancakes, pudding, and mousse, all covered with penguin prints, not to mention coffee served in penguin mugs and decorated with penguins, too!

15. And buy bento at the Nagoya station on your way to Tokyo!

At the Nagoya station I found incredible bento I took with me on a Shinkansen ride. Our first bento was shaped as Shinkansen, and inside there were some onigiri, rolls and omelette. Next one was a cutest omelette chick. Inside there’s fried chicken, sausage, half egg, meatball, fried prawn, veggies, rice and omelette – and cutest chick candy.

Second Shinkansen train had again fried chicken, meatball, omelette, tofu salad, rice and little jelly, and, finally, we had a mighty bento with Sakura and Mt Fuji. There was rice with fish and egg, more fish, small salad, veggies, meatball, dango and more rice with veggies and chicken.

Pictures of the floating world