Toying with the idea of visiting Nagoya in mid August. I know the temperatures and humidity will be worse in a city. But this will be the first proper time off work where I’ll be able leave where I live – and I *desperately* need a break from inaka life.
If anyone lives in, or is familiar with Nagoya, how is the sightseeing? Also wondering how is the nightlife? Is it all clubs or are there live music/ indie type places? Open to all suggestions and advice!
Thank you in advance!
13 comments
Nagoya is about the eats, and if you have a kid, the MAGLEV train museum.
Make the extra effort to get down to Osaka or up to Tokyo. Nagoya seems like it should be almost as much of a big city as at least Osaka, but it’s not. It’s really just a large regional city.
Sightseeing inexistant imho nightlife much more fun
I lived in Nagoya for a year and what I can tell you is it’s a great place to live, but not an exciting place to visit.
There are clubs, but basically two of them in the central area Sakae. Live music? Not that I’ve seen, but people do like to perform on the street sometimes. They range from amateur to pretty good, except for skateboard guy who rolls around with his speaker.
Sightseeing? There’s Nagoya Castle (but the main building might still be under construction and you can’t go in), Osu Kannon, a covered shopping area with a decent variety of shops and food, Atsuta Jingu is a nice shrine to walk around and the summer festival has like 2 million people crammed in there which is quite the sight.
Go see a soccer match or a baseball game, maybe. Drink at the Hub at Mirai Tower. You can head up north ish to Inuyama and walk around a bit as the view from the castle is nice. There’s the science centre and a few museums if you’re into that kind of thing.
It’s a city, so you’ll have options, but they’re not particularly exciting. If you can, go a bit further to Osaka. Hell, it’s less than 3000 yen from Nagoya Station by bus with Willer Express and the like.
If you like history/mythology Atsuta Jingu is *allegedly* where kusanagi-no-tsurugi is stored (if it exists).
Food wise, Hitsumabushi (Eel don basically) is really good, but pricey. Worth getting once.
Inuyama castle and the little town area in front of it are very close, it’s one of the 12 remaining original castles in Japan.
Oasis 21 is nice to go up to the top of for a view, it’s also where the world cosplay summit is annually held in August, so you could time that.
Osu Kannon is a big shopping/food district with attached to a buddhist temple. Sometimes they do events in the summer, one time they had Sumo or something going on.
1. Yabaton Restaurant chain- awesome food
2. Kinburu- Best thrift/discount store in Japan
If you’re into cars at all, the there’s the Toyota car museum. They have cars from all over the world from different eras.
I’ll try to add to what I haven’t seen yet. If you have a kid, hit up Legoland. There’s also a decent aquarium and science museum. If you like art, there are some nice art museums like the Tokugawa Art Museum.
Somebody here commented that there is no live music. There is. There are several small venues, you just need to search them.
You could check out Meiji Mura, which is like an outdoor museum. Little World is okay. Monkey Park is sad.
Someone mentioned baseball. That’s a good option. You can go watch the Dragons lose another game.
Additions for food: tebasaki. Check out the two big chains and decide which you like better—Sekai no Yamachan or Furaibo. If you like Chinese food, Misen is popular. There are several craft beer places. Y Market has a few places around. One is near Kokusai Center which is not too far from Nagoya Station. They have one in Sakae called Nagoroba. Keg is also not too far from there. Of course there is Binge Craftbeer and Callejera Stand & Garage (in Kanayama) that also has good burritos. Other drinking places that are better than the Hub where non-Japanese hang are Mexigan, The Rock, Shooters, Coopers, etc.
If you like retro gaming, then check out Critical Hit in Fushimi. It’s not too far from the Hilton. There’s an Irish bar not too far from it called Shamrock.
There’s tons of shopping you can do as well both in Sakae and Nagoya Station (Osu has already been mentioned).
Nagoya isn’t the most exciting place, but there’s plenty to do. Lots of people like to shit on it, but it’s not that bad. See if you can find the Daibutsu in Nagoya.
Well there’s kind of a reason why most people skip Nagoya between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto. If you want to have a break from Inaka life, then you need to go to Tokyo, Osaka
Weather-wise, Nagoya is probably as unpleasant as Tokyo in August. Everyone else has said some really great suggestions, but unless there is something in particular you’re interested in in Nagoya it’s not really a place to aim to visit.
Don’t come here, go to Osaka. Infinitely more interesting and lively.
I am not sure if they are still doing it buy toyota used to have a free plant tour if you are interested in cars. This is different from the toyota museum.
Not really Nagoya but Ise Jingu and the surrounding temples at Mie is a nice day trip. Also Nagashima Resort and Nagashima Spaland is a bus trip away from Nagoya.
Edit: Also there were also tours to visit the place where they make Red Miso. Sorry I don’t know the exact place cause I wasn’t the one that made the reservation.
Good God, man. August is for visiting the mountains, Hokkaido, or abroad.