Nagoya

Nagoya Castle, under the golden shachihoko

Nagoya Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Its keep, crowned with golden shachihoko (the fish-like guardians on the roof), made it famous, and it was the first castle ever designated a National Treasure. Then, in a May 1945 air raid, the keep and the Honmaru Palace burned. Today's keep was rebuilt in steel-reinforced concrete in 1959, and it's currently closed, so you can't go inside. The city is pursuing a project to restore it in wood. That makes the Honmaru Palace, restored and opened to the public in 2018, the castle's real centerpiece. The paintings on its sliding doors and ceilings are still being reproduced, one at a time. Walk its corridors room by room and you start to imagine how a guest coming to see the lord was meant to feel. Admission is ¥1,000 for adults, and entry to the palace closes at 4 p.m. It's about a 10-minute walk from the main gate to the palace entrance, so leave yourself time.

Atsuta Jingu, a forest in the city

Atsuta Jingu began as the home of Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the sacred sword that's one of Japan's three imperial regalia. The grounds cover about 190,000 square meters, so once you pass the torii, the noise of the city sinks into the shade almost at once. On the way to the main sanctuary, look up at the great camphor tree north of the purification fountain; it's said to be more than 1,000 years old. A little farther on, you'll reach a low earthen wall. In 1560, Oda Nobunaga prayed here for victory as he set out for the Battle of Okehazama, won decisively, and donated this wall in thanks. That's why it's still called Nobunaga-bei. After your visit, stop at Miya Kishimen inside the grounds for a bowl of wide, flat kishimen noodles.

Nagoya meshi: miso and eel

The dishes this region has loved for generations go by one name here: Nagoya meshi. Many of them are built on mame miso, a soybean miso. Miso katsu is a pork cutlet under a thick sauce made from it; miso nikomi udon is simmered in soybean-miso broth in a clay pot and arrives still bubbling. The star is hitsumabushi. Grilled eel is cut into strips and served over rice in a wooden tub: the first bowl you eat as it is, the second topped with condiments like scallions and wasabi, the third with dashi or tea poured over. Atsuta Horaiken, which opened as a ryotei restaurant in 1873, holds the trademark on the name. In the evening, order tebasaki at an izakaya: fried chicken wings brushed with a sweet-savory glaze and dusted with spices and sesame, so they come out with a little heat and a toasty edge. With a cold beer, that's how a Nagoya night begins.

Breakfast at a kissaten

At least once, skip the hotel breakfast and walk to a neighborhood kissaten, an old-style coffee shop. Order a drink in the morning and toast and a boiled egg come with it for free. That's morning service, a habit rooted deep in this city. Add ogura toast, spread thick with sweet red bean paste, and you've got the full Nagoya breakfast. Sit among the regulars, tear into your toast slowly, and you'll catch a weekday side of the city that the sights don't show you.

From Osu to Sakae

Osu Kannon was moved here by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612, from Osu in the old province of Mino (now Gifu). The temple's Osu Library holds about 15,000 volumes, including a National Treasure manuscript of the Kojiki, and on the 18th and 28th of every month an antiques market sets up in the grounds. Around the temple spreads the Osu shopping district, with about 1,200 shops and venues. There are so many electronics stores that it's called the Akihabara of Aichi, and secondhand clothing, restaurants from around the world and old kissaten are jumbled in with them, which is why it's known as the hodgepodge shopping street. When the sun goes down, head north to Sakae. The MIRAI TOWER, completed in 1954, was Japan's first consolidated broadcast tower, and in 2022 it became the first tower in Japan designated an Important Cultural Property. Next door, the water-filled glass roof of Oasis 21, known as the water spaceship, has a walkway looping around its rim 14 meters above the ground (open 10 a.m.–9 p.m.). Walk it while the tower lights up, and the day winds down quietly.

A city that makes things

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology stands where the Toyota group began, in a preserved Taisho-era factory. From textile machines that turn thread into cloth to cars, you can watch real machines run in live demonstrations. If you love trains, the SCMaglev and Railway Park is 24 minutes from Nagoya Station on the Aonami Line. Thirty-nine real railcars, from generations of Shinkansen to conventional trains, are lined up there, with hands-on exhibits on how the Shinkansen and superconducting maglev work. For a quieter day, try the Tokugawa Art Museum. Built around daimyo heirlooms handed down in the Owari Tokugawa family, its collection is said to top 10,000 items. Its National Treasure, the Tale of Genji illustrated scrolls, goes on special display each year in late November, a few scenes at a time.

A 3-day plan

Day 1 — Arrive at Chubu Centrair International Airport (28–35 min to Nagoya on Meitetsu) → Nagoya Castle and the Honmaru Palace → hitsumabushi for dinner Day 2 — Kissaten morning → Toyota Commemorative Museum → Osu Kannon and the Osu shopping district → MIRAI TOWER and Oasis 21 at night → tebasaki at an izakaya Day 3 — Atsuta Jingu and Miya Kishimen → SCMaglev and Railway Park → airport

What to eat

• Hitsumabushi (eel over rice, three ways)
• Miso katsu (pork cutlet, miso sauce)
• Tebasaki (sweet-savory fried wings)
• Kissaten morning (with ogura toast)

Handy tips

• On weekends, holidays and the 8th of each month, the Donichi Eco Kippu gets you unlimited subway and city bus rides for ¥620 (adults), cheaper than the regular ¥870 day pass.
• Ghibli Park is reservation-only, with a daily capacity of around 5,000, so book entry as soon as your dates are set.
• Since October 2023, a Nagoya city ordinance says to stand still on escalators, whichever side you're on. Leave the habit of walking up the open lane at home.