Opened in 2011, the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park is the railway museum of Central Japan Railways (JR Central). The museum seeks to educate visitors on the advances in high speed rail in Japan and displays a number of actual trains, including historic steam locomotives, world record setting experimental shinkansen (bullet train) and the latest magnetic levitating trains (maglev).
Several dozen retired train cars are on display. Many of them can be entered or viewed from underneath, and are accompanied by a host of exhibits explaining the different parts of the trains and all aspects of their operation and maintenance. Another section of the museum is dedicated to maglev trains and JR Central’s plans to construct a maglev high speed link between Tokyo and Osaka. The second floor of the museum also has lots of learning experiences, which are specifically geared toward young children.
Nagashima Resort is a major vacation destination just outside Nagoya. It is comprised of five main leisure facilities: the Nagashima Spaland amusement park, a water park, a hot spring complex, an outlet shopping mall and a flower park named Nabana no Sato. The resort is located on a long piece of land that is surrounded by rivers and the sea; fittingly, it is called Nagashima or “long island”.
During the Edo Period (1603-1868), Nagoya served as the seat of the Owari, one of the three major branches of the ruling Tokugawa family. The family amassed great wealth that was only surpassed by four of the 200 feudal domains of the Edo Period. The Tokugawa Art Museum (徳川美術館, Tokugawa Bijutsukan) was built on the grounds of the Owari’s former feudal residence and preserves and exhibits several of their treasures including samurai armor and swords, tea utensils, noh masks and costumes, poems, scrolls and maps.
Next to the museum is Tokugawa-en, a beautiful Japanese landscape garden with a large pond at its center. The garden used to be part of a retirement residence of the local lords, but was destroyed during the war. It was restored and reopened to the public in 2004. A large network of walking trails lead around the grounds to a tea house, rest houses, and across several bridges. The garden is best in spring, when its Peony (mid to late April) and Iris gardens (late May to early June) bloom, and during the autumn season (November).
Korankei (香嵐渓, Kōrankei) is a valley near Nagoya reputed to be one of the best spots for autumn colors in the Chubu Region.
Shaping the valley is the 254 meter tall Mount Iimori, on which Kojakuji Temple stands. In the 17th century, the head priest of Kojakuji planted some maple trees along the temple approach, prompting many locals to do the same in the area. Today, visitors to Korankei can see the fruits of these past efforts, in the form of excellent autumn scenery that peak around mid to late November each year.
The Nagoya City Science Museum (名古屋市科学館, Nagoya-shi Kagakukan) features a characteristic giant silver globe, which houses one of the world’s largest planetariums. Programs at the planetarium vary monthly and cover current astronomical phenomena. Although shows are conducted only in Japanese, they can nevertheless be interesting just by looking at the stars and other elements of nature being projected on the huge spherical screen.
Five floors of the seven-storied museum are dedicated to a comprehensive array of permanent exhibits, while temporary exhibitions are periodically held in the basement. The permanent exhibits present ample opportunities for visitors of all ages to try their hand at learning science through interactive experiments. They include several large displays such as the “Tornado Lab”, the “Electric Discharge Lab” and the “Deep Freezing Lab,” which simulates conditions at the earth’s polar regions.
Atsuta Shrine (熱田神宮, Atsuta Jingū) is one of Shinto’s most important shrines. It enshrines the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and stores the sacred sword Kusanagi, which is one of the three imperial regalia. Note, however, that the sword is never displayed to the public.
Atsuta Shrine stands in a pleasant, wooded park in southern Nagoya. During the Meiji Period, the shrine’s buildings was remodeled after the Ise Shrines in the purely Japanese Shinmei-zukuri architecture style.
Osu Kannon (大須観音, Ōsu Kannon) is a popular Buddhist temple in central Nagoya. Originally built during the Kamakura Period (1192-1333) in neighboring Gifu Prefecture, the temple was moved to its current site by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612 after the original temple had been repeatedly damaged by severe flooding. The current buildings are 20th century reconstructions.