Japan here we come

Perfectly sized Nagoya

A couple of our friends had questioned why we were visiting Nagoya and although I had done the research, I was starting to doubt the decision. It turns out Nagoya is perfectly sized city for the Ajayi's. It is quite possibly to walk to wherever you want to visit, or if not the subway is quite easy and not as large as Tokyo - meaning you don’t end up walking two kilometers underground!

The five and half hour, Willer bus ride was lovely and relaxing. We had a grand view of a snow covered Mt Fuji, although the photos don’t do it justice. The countryside between Tokyo and Nagoya was very mountainous and we went through endless tunnels that run through the mountains.

On the Willer again...

Mt Fuji viewed from the bus, honestly.

When we arrived in Nagoya it was snowing!! Very romantic but very bloody cold. We chose to stay in a hotel, this time. Although we enjoyed the Airbnb in Tokyo, we wanted a bit more luxury (read - we just wanted to be warmer) in Nagoya.

Our hotel, Hotel Trusty Nagoya Shirakawa, was very centrally located. Only one stop from Nagoya station, and/or a 10-minute walk.

We spent our first day exploring downtown Nagoya. We decided to walk back to the train station, as we wanted to  book our bus to Kobe. It's great being able to walk, as we get a much better feel for the city.

Nagoya Station is renowned for being a centre for shopping and restaurants, so we thought this might be a good place for lunch. One of the local specialties of Nagoya is breaded pork cutlet with red miso sauce. Ummmmm. So we were on the hunt for the Misokatsu Yabaton restaurant (it’s the Starbucks of pork). No luck finding it and every restaurant we did find had queues waiting to get in. It’s true the Japanese love to queue. They will wait patiently at the smallest road crossing (3 metres or less) for the green man. Don’t get me started on the ladies toilets!

Nagoya Station

After viewing the long lunch queues, we gave up on the train station and found a lovely restaurant nearby. We’ve been having our main meal at lunchtime and then naughty cakies in the evening - I love holidays!

After we sated ourselves with lunch, the weather was particularly bitter, so we found a karaoke place and entertained ourselves for an hour. It was just as much fun as we remembered. Although my singing hasn’t improved.

My my my Delilah

Big Echo Karoake 

For our second day in Nagoya, we walked about 2 k’s to the Nagoya Castle. Very impressive, it is currently being rebuilt, as it was destroyed in WW2. The grounds were also lovely. We are particularly impressed with the hot drink vending machines, that are everywhere. Great when its cold and you need a quick pick me up. 

view of Nagoya from the castle

Nagoya Castle

Next stop was my favourite junk shop, Don Quitoxe or Donki (as us locals call it :-)). However we needed some sustenance before we tackled the 7 floors of Donki. 


Whilst chatting to the ‘Maid” from the Maid Café, Richard discovered there was a Misokatsu restaurant nearby, so we gave it another go. This time success! We finally located the restaurant. Really the giant pig on the outside of the building should have given it away! But if you don’t know what you are looking for……

look for the giant pig on the roof

The famous MisoKatsu at last!

Anyway it was worth the hunt – delicious. The young lad serving us took a shine to Richard. He so wanted to be cool, bless him. So fueled up, we tackled the Donki store. Seven floors of stuff you never knew you wanted. Actually, whilst a lot of the stuff is fun, it isn’t very cheap. I was determined to buy something, so on the last floor, I settled on some interesting junk food and left happy my mission was accomplished.

One sip - useless products in Donki!

Donki, downtown Nagoya

hmm so many decisions

the final haul

Toyota Automobile and Technology Museum was our main activity the following day. It was again, only 2 stops from our hotel. At only 500Yen entry fee, it was great fun and really well set out. 

The first part is about the Toyota textile industry, which then led into the history of Toyota car industry. Lots of interactive displays. We're not really interested in cars, but we were kept entertained for 3 hours. Really enjoyed the lovely ladies with the pristine white gloves, demonstrating the cars.

Toyatos' first passenger car

adore the white gloved demonstrators

Check out the machinery in the background, all interactive and noisy!

We spent the evening back in Sakae area and enjoyed our second machine ticket ramen dinner, plus a couple of drinks in a nearby Beef Tongue bar (tried a beef tongue miso dish, not much to talk about). Was a great little bar and the patrons were very friendly but the cigarette smoke drove us out, in the end.

Want that one

nom nom nom

We've spent a lot of evenings in small bars, that could be one post in itself!

small bar 1

small bar 2

Our last day in Nagoya was spent at the Science Musuem. Again was only 400 yen entry fee, so very reasonable. Was good fun, despite having to share the space with several hundred school children.

Science Museum, just around the corner from our hotel

look at moi

extra large heads and short legs, bit of an improvement?

The afternoon/ evening we spent exploring the Osu Shopping area. We found an interesting shrine, where locals were getting a few blessings. Osu area was a bit like the long malls in Osaka but much calmer. Lots of good stuff to be had.  Including quite a few vintage shops. Richie nearly bought a vintage Adidas top but changed his mind at the last minute.

I found a very cute kimono for a one year old and nearly purchased a greatly discounted Chewbacca (starwars) figure except the shop was closed by the time we left (yet another) small bar.

Shrine, Osu 

Osu Mall

Really enjoyed Nagoya, despite the cold. It was a very manageable city, with great restaurants and bars and interesting sites. The city has very wide streets and an abundance of lovely public art. Only some of which we captured.....

Sadly Willer but didn't offer the Nagoya/Kobe route, so we took a Meititsu bus instead. Whilst not quite as luxurious as Willer, it did have a toilet on board, wifi and power points, so it was just as relaxing. 

Would recommend Nagoya, for a few days. Would be nice to visit in the spring....