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Designated city in Aichi, Chūbu, Japan
Photo: Bariston, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Nagoya (名古屋) is the capital and largest city of Aichi prefecture, in the Chubu region of Honshu. It's not one of Japan's top tourist draws as most tourists just zip through on the bullet train on their way between Tokyo and Kyoto. But if you do decide to stick around, there are plenty of car-related attractions, a restored castle, an ancient shrine, and a surprisingly happening nightlife.
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Offers cycle rentals and tours of Nagoya in English.
名古屋港水族館 Nagoya-kō-suizoukan
(site in Japanese) Large aquarium featuring a number of different marine environments, including killer whales.
トヨタ産業技術記念館 Toyota-sangyō-gijutsu-kinenkan
Built on the site of one of Toyota's original loom factories, this museum tells the story of the Toyota corporation, from its beginnings as an industrial loom manufacturer to its transformation into one of the world's largest car manufacturers. Includes large loom machinery and car display halls as well as a hands-on "Technoland" with interactive science exhibits. Museum also includes a library, video library with personal viewing booths, restaurant, cafe, and gift shop. Displays, brochures, and audioguides available in English and several other languages. Barrier-free access for disabled visitors. Freespot Wi-Fi access available.
名古屋市美術館 Nagoya-shi-bijutsukan
Collection of 2,000 works including pieces by Modigliani, Laurencin, and Utrillo, as well as those of local artists, such as Takanori Ogisu and Tamiji Kitagawa.
名古屋城 Nagoya-jō
Trumpeted as a famous landmark, particularly the two golden carp (金の鯱 kin-no-shachi) on the roof. The original castle was home to Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan's famous warlords. Largely destroyed during World War II, the main keep was rebuilt in concrete in 1959, but is being demolished to make way for a more faithful reconstruction using traditional materials and methods. The honmaru goten, the main palace of the castle's lords, was reconstructed using traditional materials and methods in 2018. Free English tours with volunteer English-speaking Japanese guides are sometimes available. See also Japanese castles.
熱田神宮 Atsuta Jingū
This shrine houses the sacred Kusanagi no mitsurugi (草薙神剣) sword, one of the three Imperial regalia of Japan — but unfortunately nobody but the emperor and a few high priests get to see it. There are some 4,400 other artifacts on the grounds though and the shrine hosts some 70 festivals every year.
白鳥庭園, Shirotori Teien
In this Japanese garden you can see and feed koi fish in large ponds, take a look at the tea ceremony house, and also view the beautiful waterfall. On spring the plum trees bloom beautifully and on autumn you can enjoy the night illumination.
覚王山日泰寺, kakuōzan nittai-ji
Among the 165,000 m² of temple grounds is the 15 meter Gandhara-style Taian Pagoda, which houses relics of the Buddha that were presented to Japan by the king of Thailand. Unlike any other temple in Japan, Nittai-ji does not belong to a particular sect, and is instead managed by a different sect every 3 years.
白川公園, shirakawa-kōen
Beautiful trees, Nagoya Science and Modern Art Museums.
徳川美術館
Displays some treasures of the Tokugawa family. Located next door to the beautiful Tokugawa-en Japanese gardens (additional admission charge required).
興正寺
Koshoji Temple was established in the 17th century by the Tokugawa family. The temple hosts the annual "1,000 Lantern Festival." There are numerous restaurants and universities surrounding the Koshoji Temple area.
城山八幡宮, shiroyama hachiman-gū
Formerly the Suemori Castle, the present day Shrine hosts festivals that feature Japanese dance and music.
桃巌寺
Dating back to the 16th century, this temple features a statue of the seated Buddha and has many ties to Hindu religion, particularly a temple honoring the Goddess Saraswati, who is honored in a Benzaiten Festival every May 7–8. Toganji also contains a huge wood block said to purge past sins if touched with one hand.
名古屋市科学館, Nagoya-shi Kagakukan
Located in the city centre, this museum houses loads of interactive exhibitions and a planetarium. It's mostly geared towards children and there is very little information in English, although they offer a guide app.
リニア・鉄道館 Rinia-Tetsudōkan
Train museum highlighting the evolution of Japan's high-speed rail.
荒子観音
This small temple is the oldest building in Nagoya, with original construction on the site dating from the Heian Period (8th century). Despite several fires which destroyed older portions of the temple, the Tahoto pagoda on site remains intact after 472 years.
大須観音
Founded in the Kamakura era (1192-1333), this temple was moved to its current location by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612. The present main temple on the site was reconstructed in 1970. Check out the main hall or buy an お守り (omamori) charm in the gift shop for good luck. The grounds in front of the temple are host to a small flea market twice every month.
Fujigaoka is known for its cherry blossoms (sakura) trees in the spring lining the streets. It is close to the site of the 2005 World Expo held in Nagakute, a 15-min linear motor car (Linimo) train ride from Fujigaoka station. This quaint little area at the edge of town has a plethora of shops, boutiques, patisseries and coffee shops. They also hold a market the 3rd Sunday of every month.
断夫山古墳
The Dampusan Kofun is a large keyhole-shaped kofun burial mound located within the grounds of the Atsuta Shrine.
名古屋テレビ塔 Nagoya-terebi-tō
Standing 180 meters tall, the Nagoya TV Tower is Japan's oldest - predating even the Tokyo Tower. Take an elevator to the 100-m-high sky balcony for great views of Hisaya-odori park and Sakae. Under the tower is a small terrace with tables and a number of small food stands.
久屋大通公園, hisaya-ōdōri kōen
Nice trees and fountains, Nagoya TV Tower observation deck. On weekend afternoons and evenings, local musicians set up in and around the park and strut their stuff for the passers-by. Shops and restaurants can be found around the area as well.
愛知県美術館 Aichi-ken-bijutsukan
Collection features international and Japanese 20th century art, including works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Gustav Klimt, Paul Klee, Joan Miro, Max Ernst, German Expressionists, Surrealists, and postwar US artists. Japanese collection features the art of Yuichi Takahashi, Ryuzaburo Umehara, Sotaro Yasui, Taikan Yokoyama, and Shunso Hishida. Two private collections donated to the museum also include Edo-period paintings and traditional crafts.
大相撲名古屋場所 Ō-zumō-Nagoya-basho
Watch the big boys of Japanese sumo battle it out in Nagoya. An annual tradition. Tickets are generally available at the counter unless it is the first or last day. Ticket prices start at ¥3,200 and up. The cheapest seats are fine for first-time sumo watchers and are not much worse than the ¥4,700 seats.
大須夏祭り Osu Natsu-matsuri
Yearly street festival held in the shopping streets around Osu Kannon temple. Featuring live stage performances, street performers, Brazilian samba parade and cosplay parade.
世界コスプレサミット Sekai-kosupure-samitto
An otaku's dream come true. Watch as anime fans from around the world dress up as their favorite characters and parade around the streets of Nagoya. The Summit culminates with the World Cosplay Championship (世界コスプレチャンピオンシップ Sekai-kosupure-championshippu), pitting teams from a number of countries as they show off their costumes and perform stage shows. Cheer on your nation's entry or just stare in wonderment at the strangeness of it all.
名古屋城宵まつり Nagoya-jo-yoi-matsuri
A traditional-style summer festival, complete with lanterns, numerous styles of traditional bon-odori (盆踊り) circle dancing (to honour family ancestors), festival stalls, and a beer garden under an illuminated Nagoya castle.
ミッドランドスクエア・シネマ
On the 5th floor of the towering Midland Square building, this complex boasts 7 screens with stadium seating, and shows a range of popular Hollywood and Japanese mainstream movies.
Located in a relatively new entertainment complex, this large movie theater contains 10 cinemas with stadium seating and shows a mix of Hollywood and mainstream Japanese films.
Serves up basic curry and donburi dishes, including a decent misokatsu, for ¥480 with coffee/tea, or ¥680 with miso soup and pickles.
It's a nice little taco shop that will run you about ¥500 per taco. They also have a nice selection of international beers.
The place to try another Nagoya specialty - misokatsu, pork cutlet with red miso. The standard set is teppan tonkatsu, and it comes to your table on a sizzling hotplate over a bed of shredded cabbage; then a special person performs the ritual of drowning it in sauce. If you're really hungry, go for the waraji (straw sandals) - a huge portion of pork loin flattened before frying so that it overhangs the plate (sometimes it'll come cut in half, as two cutlets). From the subway station, go under the highway overpass and look for the building with the sumo champion pig stenciled on its side, to your right. This is the head store; there are five more around the city, including two at the Nagoya station.
デスペラードス
Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant and bar operated by Mexican-born and American-raised owner Rudy and his wife Takako. Features a variety of Mexican dishes and a selection of premium tequilas.
Excellent high-class Italian food (like seafood risotto, broccoli pasta or herb-stuffed pork rolls), but also delicious oven-baked pizzas. All this in three superbly furnished rooms. The main room is baroque-style with chandeliers and has not only a live pianist, but also a live opera singer every night (dress code for this room).
ガーデンレストラン徳川園
This eatery serves Japanese-French cuisine with views of the beautiful Tokugawa-en Japanese gardens located next door.
Five top-quality restaurants in the heart of Nagoya, Japan. From Italian cafe, Yakiniku, Sushi, to catered party events.
シューターズ スポーツバー＆グリル
American and international food and drinks. A friendly, neighborhood sports bar with a mixed crowd and live music on Sundays.
山ちゃん
(Japanese) Known for its tebasaki (手羽先) fried chicken wings (one of Nagoya's specialties), this seemingly ubiquitous chain of izakayas is one of Nagoya's favorites. English menu available.
Near the Hilton hotel, Cigar Club Kanou offers food, drink and a wide array of cigars (with a walk-in humidor.)
This nationwide chain of affordable British-style pubs has two locations across the city, offering cocktails, bar food/pub grub, an English menu and some basic service in English.
しんちゃん
This is a chain izakaya located all around Nagoya. They sell great chicken wings and mugs of beer for ¥320.
ザ・ロック オージースポーツバー&グリル
Australian food; they even have crocodile and kangaroo items on the menu. Free Wi-fi. Offers Happy Hour weeknights from 17:30. Live music some Sunday nights.
In Fushimi, it attracts foreigners and Japanese for weekend dance events. Entry fee is usually ¥2000-3000, with a couple of drinks included.
The most popular and well-known club in Nagoya. Nagoya's largest club, 5 different floors of style and music. R & B, Hip Hop, Reggae, Hard House, All Mix, 1970s & 80s disco.
Food and drinks from ¥500 including pasta, hamburgers, and steak dishes. TVs covering live sports events. Music from noon with DJs, occasional live music. Hip Hop, Reggae, R&B.
Another good Nagoya club, around the corner from Club Daughter.
In Shin-Sakae on the basement level of the Flex-building. Great for house, techno, electro-clash, progressive house. ¥2500-3000 cover.
Jazz club featuring Japanese and international jazz artists.
クラブクアトロ Kurabu-kuatoro
One of Nagoya's main live houses, featuring a wide array of Japanese and international rock and pop music acts.
京屋旅館
Awesome ryokan-style hostel with a great vibe. Offers internet access, air conditioning, and security lockers. The hostel has a nice garden in the background and an onsen-style bath.
東横イン
The popular no-frills Toyoko Inn chain operates six hotels in Nagoya. Toyoko Inn Club members can check in from 15:00.
名古屋丸の内
名古屋錦
名古屋駅桜通口本館
名古屋駅新幹線口
名古屋新栄町
Huge capsule hotel right in the middle of Sakae. Excellent spa facilities, clean and cheap. Booking online might be a problem; look it up on a map and just show up. Credit cards accepted. Very limited English understood. Larger hand luggage can be kept by the hotel staff. Fridays and Saturdays might mean no vacancies and a higher price. If you want to experience a real capsule hotel not targeted to foreign tourists this is a very good one to try. Only males allowed, no tattoos. If you are body conscious and fear being naked around other people including some female staff, then you should avoid the spa/onsen. Later checkout than usual at capsules (1PM). Wi-Fi everywhere. No electrical sockets in capsule.
This business hotel is in the middle of the Sakae dining and shopping district. The rooms are comparatively clean and the staff speaks English; internet access is included. ¥9800/single.
This business hotel is a few blocks from train station on a street lined with business hotels. The rooms are very small; internet access is included if you have an Ethernet cable. ¥6200/single, ¥9450/twin.
名鉄イン名古屋金山
This business hotel was built in 2005 and has very clean rooms; in-room internet access and breakfast is included. The staff has some limited English ability. ¥6800/10,800/13,000 for single/small double/double.
In-room internet access. The staff has some limited English ability. Large breakfast buffet, Western & Japanese, ¥1,000/adult, ¥800/child, 07:00-09:30. Rooms: ¥6,300 single, ¥12,390/15,540 twin for two/three, ¥23,520/29,400 Japanese-style for three/five.
A 3-minute walk from a Nozomi Shinkansen train to a well-marked elevator portal takes you to the 15th floor check-in level. This often-full five-star hotel (¥20,000-70,000/night) is equipped with ten good restaurants, which tend to be jammed, but the adjacent office tower also has more than 20 restaurants on two levels ranging from inexpensive noodle eateries to high-end sushi places. Note that if you have a concierge room reservation, you need to go to the concierge level (35th floor) to check in. Rooms are extremely clean and comfortable.
名古屋観光ホテル
Founded in 1936 as the Nagoya State Guest and still going strong. Rooms from standard (¥15,015) to suite (¥346,500). Free parking.
Provides monthly furnished and non-furnished apartments for a range of budgets. Popular with longer-term visitors seeking to avoid the hefty deposits required by traditional Japanese landlords.
A series of old style shopping arcades packed with mom-and-pop stores, ¥100 shops, traditional crafts, used computers and a fantastic range of clothing stores. There is a little bit of everything. Ōsu is the shopping area and Osu Kannon the temple just to the west side. In fact, the shopping area extends from Ōsu Kannon temple in the west to Banshō-ji (万松寺) temple and Ōtsu-dōri street (大津通り) in the east. Outside of the main shopping arcade, there are also a number of streets with a wide array of different specialty shops.
丸善
Offers a reasonable selection of English books, magazines, and newspapers on the 3rd floor, including travel guidebooks, maps, a wide array of books on Japan, and Japanese language study materials.
Offers a corner with English books, magazines and newspapers. Features books on Japan plus a decent selection of current nonfiction titles and business books. A small selection of guidebooks are also available.
By train
Nagoya is along the Tokaido Shinkansen route between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. To the west are Gifu and Kyoto, and to the east are Hamamatsu and Shizuoka.
By bus
Many day and overnight buses run to Nagoya from other locations throughout Japan. They can be cheaper than the shinkansen or local trains.
By boat
A Meitetsu shuttle bus to the ferry is available from the downtown Meitetsu Bus Center (名鉄バスセンター) next to Nagoya Station.
By subway
Subways run every several minutes between about 05:30 until about 00:30. Fares range from ¥200 to ¥320. One day passes can be bought for ¥620 (bus), ¥760 (subway), and ¥870 (bus & subway).
By taxi
Taxis are a viable option in this car city, especially as the basic fee is only ¥500.01 km compared to 2 km in most other parts of Japan.
By bicycle
Most parts of central Nagoya were built on landfill just above sea level, making it a relatively flat city and seemingly easy to traverse by bicycle.
By car
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Nagoya · Regional · NKM
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