Nagoya, Japan
Day 1

We took A Shinkansen bullet train ride from Tokyo to Nagoya. We managed to capture a beautiful pic of Mount Fuji during the ride and made a mental note to return someday for a hiking excursion, but that is not this trip.The bullet train covering 200 miles in 1.5 hours from Tokyo to Nagoya was quite the experience

Inuyama Castle Town (Jokamachi)

We explored Inuyama Castle Town (Jokamachi), which is about 30 mins drive from Nagoya. We had a great time enjoying Japanese street food and shopping for souvenirs…  Jokamachi is the town immediately surrounding Inuyama Castle.

The main streets in Jokamachi are lined with souvenir shops and Japanese street food. It was really fun!

We had the pleasure of spending all weekend with our niece and her family and had an amazing time.

Inuyama Castle 犬山城

We took a short hike up to Inuyama Castle standing on a hill overlooking Kiso River.  The tenshu (keep), or the highest tower within the castle, of this castle has been determined to be the oldest of the 12 original remaining castles in Japan, with constructions dated back around the 1580s.  The tenshu symbolizes the wealth and power of the owners with little emphasis on defense, unlike those in the European countries.

Kiso River

Picture taken from the top of Inuyama Castle.

Jinja Shrine

Day 2

We had a fun day exploring the City of Nagoya, admiring all the unique architecture, catching Pokémon at Shirakawa Park, Oasis 21 and Nagoya TV Tower, and ended the day with BR ice cream – Nagoya-shi, Aichi, Japan

Gakuen Spiral Building

Hisho

The spiraling silver structure in the middle of a roundabout is Hisho 飛翔(Flight) Monument designed by architect Ii Shin which symbolizes the unification of residents in Nagoya and transmitting information to the world.

The building behind Hisho is Dai-Nagoya.

Next to Hisho is Nagoya Station, a building with cylindrical structures; the shorter one is the hotel and the taller one houses many offices. Nagoya Station has many shopping centers including Takashimaya. Shops at Nagoya Station covers a wide range of merchandise including high-end clothing, cute Japanese stationary etc., … Din Tai Fung, the famous dumpling restaurant is also located at this station. That restaurant is one of our favorites so we had to make a stop!

Nagoya City Science Museum

Oasis 21

Oasis 21 is a complex with a space- shaped rooftop,l a hub for bus terminals with many restaurants including Baskin Robbin Ice Cream and various shops in the lower level. It is adjacent to Nagoya TV Tower.

Nagoya TV Tower

Day 3
Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology

The Toyota Museum was fascinating!

Toyota company started out as a textile developer and then over the years evolved into an automobile factory. This museum displays cars from different eras, the evolution of automobiles, history of textile production, and high tech displays including a robot playing the violin. We had a wonderful experience visiting the museum and learning the history of the evolving automobile and textile industries.

A day in Nagoya was well-spent with Elisse/Brad/Amelia/Dean and Skye. Elisse and her kids were fantastic hosts, they showed us around their house and then took us to lunch at a local curry shop, CoCo Curry House, which was really tasty. Then we went to the Toyota Museum which was fascinating, then met Brad for dinner and a tour of the city. It was great to see them, Dean absolutely loves Kevan, Tina is Amelia’s new best friend, and Skye just loves everyone. Travis couldn’t stop chuckling at the kid’s antics.

Day 4

Nagoya Castle

The Nagoya Castle is an amazing site to visit and learn about Japanese medieval history. This castle was built in 1612, replacing an earlier castle that had been built on the same site. It was built by the Owari Domain which is part of the Tokugawa clan, also known as the Nagoya domain because of its association with this very castle, although there were various other land holdings included.
Nagoya Castle was always a critical part of this area and became the core part of the modern Nagoya town, and castle ownership was ultimately transferred to the city in 1930. The Castle was partially destroyed in 1945 during WWII, with renovation and rebuilding occurring starting in the late 1950s.

The castle is also locally referred to as Meijō (名城), which is also used for other Nagoya city institutions. Sometime the castle is also called the Golden Castle.

The New Honmaru Goten Palace

The Honmaru-Goten Palace is a very interesting place to visit. It is somewhat unique in terms of architecture because there are very few remaining palaces in Japan that were built during the Edo-period. This palace was originally built during the mid -1600s, then destroyed by fire in 1788, then rebuilt and once again demolished in 1881. This restored palace represents the royal residence of an imperial princely family. So when you visit, you can see what an imperial family would have lived like during that time. After it was moved to Nino-jo, the palace served an important role as an imperial villa, having accommodated Emperor Taisho (1879 to 26) nearly 10 times when he was still a prince. The Honmar-Gutenberg Palace is composed of a series of four buildings: Genkan; Goshoin; Otsune-Goten; and Daikoro and Kari-no-ma.

Osu Shotengai Shopping Street

This is a major shopping place in Nagoya, you can literally find anything you can think of including Japanese kimono fabrics, traditional clothing, traditional or modern souvenirs, and more … In addition, you can find many street food at this place, whether at a restaurant or from a stand. It maybe a challenge to find a place to sit if you are eating in but it’s worth the wait. This is definitely one of the more crowded shopping place in Nagoya!

We got back to Tokyo at about midnight, and Tokyo station was still absolutely jam-packed with people, unbelievable, that place never stops. What a fantastic day!

Japan was definitely a place we would visit again. It’s clean, full of history, good shopping and yummy food. But for now, it’s time to go home…

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