Time to Get Off the Bullet Train! Nagoya is the Gem Everyone Skips

Time to Get Off the Bullet Train! Nagoya is the Gem Everyone Skips

Nagagoya is the third largest metropitan area in Japan. Since it’s a massive hub of industry and business, it was sometimes jokingly referred to in Japan as a tourism wasteland. And many travelers passed by Nagagoya and head to Kyo and further or just go to the station to go to surrounding areas such as Takayama and Is. Yes, Nawa might not be the top destination for vacation. But it actually offer lots of fun things to see. Today, let’s get off Shinkansen and explore Nawa. So, I can show you the glimpse of unique characteristic and beauty of the region. So, maybe in your next trip to Japan, you can do the same travel as me or better than me. Nagoya is in central Japan, part of a prefecture facing Pacific Ocean side, located about roughly 35.1° north latitude, which is about the same as Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. The weather is almost the same as Tokyo, but in winter, snow clouds sometimes grow in from the Sea of Japan side. Also, it can be very hot in summer. Nagua city’s population is 2.3 million and making a metropolitan area with other cities in it prefecture and Ku and Mi prefectures. This region is manufacturing hub of Japan. It has held the top spot in Japan for the value of manufactured goods shipment for 45 consecutive years. The most famous brand born in this region is Toyota and of course you can enjoy plenty of industrial museum such as Toyota Museum during a stay. The most major way to get to Nagoya is Shinkansen. It’s a hub of J Central that obey Tokaido Shinkansen connecting Tokyo to Osaka and all train stops at Nagoya station. It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes by noi. Cost is about 11,000 yen. For budget travelers, there’s also a choice of highway bus. You can travel under 4,000 yen, but it takes about 7 hours from Tokyo. Now it has tube international airport called central and kaki airport in the northern suburbs. There are some domestic flight and international flights. From tube airport you can access to Naga city center by main test train and it takes about 30 minutes. From Kumaki airport you can take the bus and it’s also 25 to 30 minutes to city center in Nawa station. Kumaki airport is served only by dream airline. It serves minor airports across Japan. NA is located in a great location to explore central Japan. You can have a city break during your trip in the region. I arrived at Nagagoya station. It stops only for a short time like a minute. So please be careful not to forget to get off. I arrived at the Nagoya station. Nagoya is a big station and overwhelming number of people are passing by. Once you arrive in Nagoya, you can get down by subways, jail trains, mis train. Also, there’s a bus and taxis available. Probably subways that tourista use a four lines. Higashyama line, Sakura line, Sumai line, and major line. You can use any transportation IC card to get on the trains and buses in Naguaya including Apesa and Welcome Suka. Na’s local IC card is Manaka by private railways and subways and Toya by J Central. This can be also used in other cities as well. For subways and buses, there’s 24 hours pass and one day pass that you can save in case you use many times. As it was raining forecast, I decide to head to Asting Shai fast. Oh, so this is a M to Nagoya station. I took M train from Nagua station and it’s a private railway company based in Nagagoya. We are in Mitsu Nagagoya station. So let’s go to Jingu my session third stop and 250m. There’s a big maintenance network across the greater Naga region to Toyohashi Kamagori and to Geeku. Oh, red train. It was very interesting to see the red train that I’ve never seen in other regions. This station is also famous as the most busy station in Japan. There are many lines of maintenance line but there are only two platform actually one for each direction and everything even the one including central airport is arriving this platform. This train is not bound for central Japan international airport. Passengers traveling to central Japan international airport should change trains at next stop station. So right next to it is a J lines. I got off at Jingu my station. The rain radar on the upset it’s the going to stop in about 20 minutes. So I decided to eat fast. Fortunately outside the station there’s a place with a civilian restaurants and they’re all focusing on Naga. Nagagoy has lots of local popular foods, but I decided to try this fish. Hits mabush, which is probably not really an authentic local foods, but it’s coming from the eel hits mabush, which is a very famous local foods. Eel can be very expensive, but this one is a good price for lunch, less than $10. It was really good. There are some bones, so you want to be careful. But the fish is in the sweet sauce and really delicious with fish oil taste. For other hoods, let’s eat later in this trip. So sweet. Okay, after finishing the lunch, it was still raining. So, I can buy umbrella, but uh let’s wait another 10 minutes in the Japanese sweet shop. It’s a local dango shop that they bake it after you order. And this ank was really good. I’m glad I dropped by here. So, as a result, the rain didn’t stop. So, I ended up buying the umbrella at 7-Eleven. And of course, plane stopped right after I bought the umbrella. Asting. This is the east gate of Asta. This aaching shrine is not just a big shrine that you see in other cities. It’s very important part of Japanese society and it’s a related to the origin of the imper family. There are three important sac treasures of Japan and one of them sword is sleeping in this aingu shrine. Two others mirror is in isingu shrine and jewel is in impair pass in Tokyo where the emperor lives now. So looks like you can eat kishim nangat’s favorite noodle dish here. According to the myth of Japan, the sun goddess gave three sacred treasures to her grandson when he descended to Takashi in Kyushu. These treasures were passed down to the first emperor of Japan to prove his divine right to rule. During the enthronement ceremony, the treasures are presented to the new emperor. The current emperor Narushto is a 126 monarch in the continuous line dating back to 660 BC. This makes the Japanese imperial house the oldest heritale monarchy in the world. So it was raining when we came here but now the lane stopped. So let’s go back to Zingum session and take meda again. After I go off at Kayama station and went back to the city center using subway. Oh, so there’s a shopping center. It’s quite to the station. Very nice. Very walkable towns. Now let’s check into the hotel station. This day I had a hotel near us station which is just one station from Nagoya. Uhimi station more city center of Nagoya. Looks like lots of hotels are gathering around this area such as Hutton and Courtyard by Marott. And this is a Hilton Nawway Hotel. I think I see my hotel. So there are many new hotel. This is a du style by do by lo and there’s a courtyard by Marot there too. Till this day was D style by diver hotel. Diveret is a popular chain business hotel. It seems this hotel is more for young travelers with tiny budget rooms. It use lots of space for bathroom which I appreciate it. And this is a bathroom. So they have public bus but uh there’s a bus stop here. So I’m not sure if I need to go to the public bus. very nice and I really think this by design might choose guest but I saw both Japanese businessmen and international travelers they have public bath too but I didn’t visit this day as there was a good bath in the room in case you travel during morning or evening rush hour shower time or prefer not to walk in too much you see plenty of taxis on the streets There are many hotels in Nagagoya and most of them are gathering near Nagoya station, Sushimi and Sakai area. They all connected by subways and only one session in between. Top international brand hotels are still limited and there’s a Marott Hon and Courtyard. Then where is a good place to stay in Nagua? Staying near Nanga station is definitely convenient for travelers with big luggage. And Sakai is a little more city center vibe with many shops that are fun to explore. But all these areas are connected by subways and easy to move between these areas. So more important matter is distance from stations. The subway rush hour can be as intense as Tokyo. In case you travel during morning or evening rush hour time or prefer not to walk in too much, you see plenty of taxis on the streets. Before sunset, let’s walk to the Mai Tower in Naga that you can overlook the city center. The tower is in the area called Sakai. So I said to walk from the hotel to the Sakai area. area. Seems we enter the area called Nisset. It’s a very big spot. This is Sakai station. And here there’s a huge street. Thank you. Probably the most interesting part was the tower’s empty and it had only me and a few more people. You can also go out to the rooftop which is very nice that you can feel the air outside. Oh, you can actually go outside. You can feel the air. Wow. Oh, there’s lots of kind of locks on here. Now, I’d like to head to the O. Looks like there’s a commercial street there. There’s a subway bus, but our ex is above ground. So, I’d like to take the bus. And so, let’s look for the bus stop. After Maitawa, I head to O where you can see the long commercial street. Looks like I was running from the looking at the look, but looks like this is an underground shopping mall here. So I took this bus from Latin under the Mai Tower and I came to O. It was about 15 or 15 minutes. There’s a map. So, I got a map. Let’s explore. Look like a really huge area. Okay. So, let’s go to see this big cat statue first. And go to the temple which is on the left side of this map. Hey, I found it. There are many street content. said content this way and this way to another street. Wa happy welcoming welcoming fortune cat. That’s the street I was walking earlier. Looks like this street has more place to eat. Something I want to eat is a misoku and uh the civil store. So let’s look how many this very famous restaurant and they have in Tokyo too but this is a head store for dinner. I wanted to eat miso katu which is a nawa special food. This is a pork cutlet covered with Nawa’s red mistle. And I chose the most famous store called Yabaton and their head store. They have stores in Tokyo too. And there are some other local shops too. But for being by myself, it was the easiest store to enter. Very light taste. Actually, the miso is not that deep taste. So if you like red miso like me, it might be a unsatisfying. I really enjoyed eating this miskatu. Looks like the many stores are closing unless a chain drug like this. So maybe you might want to come earlier if you like to enjoy the street more. It’s at night so I can’t see much but this is allon temple. Dr. Coffee Nava is also known for the Jubilee Park. It’s a little difficult to get tickets, but once you get it’s a great place to go for Jubilee Park scenery. Please see my Jibi Park video. The symbol of this Nion is Toyota. Let’s go to Toyota Museum. The museum is a few minutes walk from Gai Dolly station. Toyota museum 5 minutes walk. that one. Wow. Lots of cars, historic cars. 1930s, the age of stream design starts. There are two Toyota museums in Nagago region and one focusing on the car parts and cars function. This is a place you can enjoy the history of cars from all over the world and also cars in Japan and not just Toyota. So if you like automobiles, definitely this is a fun place to explore. There are about 10 Japanese car companies now and you can also see the history of them, how they formed up to the current form. Honda 360. That’s a fair lady. They are all this to eat. I was a kid. Toyota MSX. Surprising Toyota Museum has Honda NSX Lexus RFA. Oh, is this size I want to love for actually. It has very fun museum and surprisingly many things to see. So, I’m very glad I went. Even if you are not that interested in cars, I recommend to visit this place if you are in Nagoya. Under the Nagagoya station, there’s a Umayamon street where you can find lots of Naga’s local foods. If you are not sure what to eat, but you want to try local hood, this is a place to go. So, I’m back to NA station. So many so many people and last show is like feel like even worse than Tokyo, but I’m have one more night here and I didn’t have a hotel. So, I just booked a really random cheapest hotel in near the station. So let’s see how it is. So looks like lots of dining places on this train station too. This hotel was very close to Naga stations and it was very convenient. It’s not the nicest areas that has some drinking bars and only a few minutes to the Shinkasen station. It’s a old fashioned key. Let’s see. There’s a laundry machine laundry. This one I think it’s clean and nice. Right in front of the hotel, I found a gluten-free restaurant. Nava is also famous for shrimp fry it seems. So I decided to try the shrimp fry with glutenfree wheat. Gluten free wheat a rice powder. They have a glutenfree udon. They have also the skiyaki and shrimp fry. I ordered miskatu tempura and some desserts too. So I ordered a big shrimp and everything this fire is made with rice. So gluten and of course miso soup is now as red miso. The whole meal was very good. I saw some international tourist here too. Okay, so it’s $37 hotel, but I’m supposed to get a breakfast today. So, let’s see what kind of breakfast. I got a small P set for the breakfast included in the price. But there are plenty of drinks and I could survive with this until lunchtime. I really enjoy the time that I’m eating breakfast here looking at the street. Something the feeling like I went back to old days. Okay. So, as soon as I leave the hotel and walk 1 minute, I can see the platform of Shinkansen. So, let’s go a place called Inuyama. There are lots of open locas near King stations. Now is famous for now castle but unfortunately the main part are closed right now and also it’s like a museum and it’s not the authentic castle building that actually samurai was living but nearby Nagoya there’s a actual one samurai was living called Inuyama Castle. So, let’s head to Inuyama, which is only less than 30 minutes from Nagoya. Nuyama U station. Oh, it’s a Kisiva. And I see Inuyama Castle. The oldest castle among one of the left ones. It is here. There’s a Hotel Indigo Inyama Garden Intercontinental Hotel Group and soon you see Inuyama Castle. I see people on the top. So this is a old town of Inuyama. Looks like this is the entrance to the castle. says pathway to Inuamacha. Very nice national heritage inyama castle. Oh, long way to go up. National heritage in Yuyama Castle. Really steep stairs almost like a ladder. So this is the scenery old Samurai was seeing. What a nice view. There are many castles in Japan but many of them are rebuilt or replica and only 12 out of them are the original ones living and five out of them are national treasure and this castle is one of the five national treasures and this castle is the oldest that were built in early 17th century. Interesting because it doesn’t look that high, but the view from there is completely different. There’s a reason they make castle here. They’re doing stumps. Oh, nice. Now, let’s explore the town of Inuyama. Rest. It says clean. Good. Brown rice bomb. Brown rice bomb ku hardo bum. It was they gave me trial and sample and it was really good and also it’s all good and hoodie somehow in now I see lot of good and hoodie things more than Tokyo maybe. So very near castle and there’s a museum seal museums. The street continues with lot of traditional style buildings. New Year. And here the taxi passed by so I took it to the monkey park. I thought it’s a very popular destination but uh looks like it’s really minor destination. So I didn’t see anybody inside the zoo and it was only me and maybe 10 other people since there aren’t any public transportation to here in winter time. So, it’s not a most recommended place unless you really like to see monkey or you have a car. Japan monkey center of 1956. So, it’s a of the monkeys as it say monkey center and lots of different kinds of monkeys. So, I was walking near the castle and the taxi passed by and stopped to let me pass by. But I didn’t know how to come here. So I just took the taxi and a very nice driver. He really worried is it open? There’s nobody. And I asked the entrance person. It was open. So this is where the Yakuni Honzel Japanese Yakima’s monkey is here. So see from 11 to 12 and 1 to 2:00 we can enter inside of this little island. A little abandoned feeling. So this is Monkey Park. There’s a theme park and Z and Z part I went but it’s a far from S. The bus is running only uh six uh day and also not in the winter time. So it might be a little difficult to come. I can buy taxi but by chance but doesn’t look like I can call taxi here. So my phone died so I’m just waiting for the bus and I have no idea what time it is as I don’t have the watch and it’s probably where the kids people are just waiting like this reading book or writing down something. I have a notebook so I’m planning the videos. The great thing is the bus comes on time. My foot is jumping to this eating noodle scene. So obviously the camera died after waiting for the bus. Now I tried this miscomi udon and this was really good for dark miso lovers. It was a strong taste of red miso and it was very satisfying before I leave Nagoya. Norake factory. After the lunch, I went to Norake forest near the Nawa station waiting for the Shinkansen. This is a museum and shops by a company called Norake which has been making pottery in Nawa. There’s also a garden that you can enjoy the four seasons. I hope you enjoy the trip to Nagoya. Thank you for watching. Have a great trip to Japan. Have a great week until the next video.

Nagoya is no longer a tourism wasteland. Let’s find the gems in Nagoya.

Hotel I stayed: Del Style by Daiwa Roynet Nagoya-Nayabashi : https://expedia.com/affiliates/nagoya-hotels-daiwa-royal-hotel-d-city-nagoya-nayabashi.QePutng

🌐 Travel Services:
Best Hotels in Nagoya – https://expedia.com/affiliates/hotel-search-nagoya.BnzTymL

– Klook Shinkansen & Train Tickets [https://www.klook.com/en-US/japan-rail/?aid=35056]

– Pocket WiFi by Japan Wireless (20% OFF Code: tokyokenchan20): [https://www.japan-wireless.com/?via=tokyokenchan]

– Saily eSIM (15% OFF Code: tokyokenchan): [https://saily.com/tokyokenchan]

– **Mobal** (Japan Phone Number option): [https://www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/?t=st&source=3434]

– Expedia: [https://expedia.com/affiliates/kenchan/best-tokyo-hotel-deals]

About Me:
Thanks for watching! My name is Kengo. I create Japan travel guide videos from Tokyo, showing you essential tips and must-visit places. Please subscribe for my weekly exploration to discover the charm of Japan.

Connect & Support:
– Buy Me A Coffee : https://buymeacoffee.com/tokyokenchan

– Patreon: https://patreon.com/tokyokenchan

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyokenchan

🚩 Note: Some links above are affiliate links. By booking through these links, you help support my channel at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

#japantravelguide #tokyotravelguide #tokyokenchan