Nagoya is home to Nagoya Castle, famous for its golden ornaments. Nagoya is a treasure trove of local delicacies such as tebasaki (chicken wings), kishimen (flatbreads), and hitsu-mabushi (fried eel on rice), all of which are said to have originated in Nagoya.
The highlight of sightseeing in Nagoya is walking around Sakae and other downtown areas. The commercial facilities in front of Nagoya Station and the shopping streets bustling with locals make this a bustling city with plenty to do.
Nagoya is also a treasure trove of local gourmet food! You can taste a variety of gourmet foods that are said to have originated in Nagoya, such as tebasaki (chicken wings), kishimen (flat noodles), and hitsu-mabushi (fried eel on a stick). In particular, morning meals at coffee shops in Nagoya are substantial in both volume and content, and are a must-try at least once.
To enjoy sightseeing in Nagoya
Nagoya Castle is famous for its golden orca, and is a symbolic presence in the city. Atsuta Shrine enshrines one of the three sacred treasures and is of great historical value. There are also many historical landmarks, such as Momigan-ji Temple and Mansho-ji Temple, both associated with the Oda clan.
Nagoya is a major city in the Tokai region, with the TV Tower towering over the Sakae entertainment district and commercial facilities clustered around Nagoya Station. The Osu shopping district is also bustling with locals, and Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Garden is known for its gorillas and other animals.
There are also many places to enjoy culture and art, including gardens such as the traditionally beautiful Yangkiso and Tokugawa-en Gardens, the Nagoya Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, and the Nagoya City Art Museum. The city also hosts lively events such as the Nagoya Minato Festival and the Nippon Doshinchu Festival in the summer.
Women can also enjoy power spots, such as the "Love Tour of Three Shrines," which takes visitors to Shiroyama Hachiman Shrine, Yamada Tenmangu Shrine, and Takamu Shrine. Nagoya is a travel destination with a wide variety of attractions.
History of Nagoya
In Nagoya City, there is the Atsuta Jingu Shrine, which is said to have been built approximately 1,900 years ago, and still retains its cultural heritage as a national treasure. During the Warring States period, the city produced such famous military commanders as Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and Ieyasu Tokugawa. During the Edo period, the economy developed under the leadership of the Owari Tokugawa family.
In the modern era, streetcars, stations, and highways were developed, and the Port of Nagoya was opened. In the early Showa period (1926-1989), Nagoya hosted the Nagoya Pan-Pacific Peace Exposition, the largest exposition held before the Pacific War, and Nagoya became a large city with a population of over 1 million.
During the Pacific War, Nagoya was hit by an air raid, but the city continued to grow in distribution and trade, and today Nagoya is one of Japan's leading ordinance-designated cities. Nagoya's history has gone through many events and changes, and continues to evolve even today.
Nagoya's Local Gourmet, Food Culture, and Specialties
Nagoya is geographically located between the Kanto and Kansai regions, and its unique culture has taken root due to the history of competition between the two regions. Among these, Nagoya's local gourmet foods are attracting particular attention.
One of Nagoya's representative gourmet foods is "miso katsu" (pork cutlet with miso sauce). Miso is also loved by many people for dishes that make use of miso, such as udon noodles stewed in miso broth and dote-ni. Hitsumabushi is a unique style of unaju (eel stew) arranged in the style of chazuke (rice with green tea), and there are many other dishes that offer unique tastes, such as kishimen (thick noodles), ankake-spa (spaghetti with Chinese-style sauce), and tenmusu (shrimp tempura in a rice ball).
Nagoya's famous "Tebasaki" (chicken wings) is also widely known as a dish that should be enjoyed for its original flavor. The morning service offered at coffee shops is characterized by coffee with toast and boiled eggs, which is reasonably priced yet fulfilling.
After enjoying sightseeing, don't forget to pick up some classic Nagoya souvenirs, such as Nagoya's famous "Uiro" and "Miso Oden". Nagoya's food culture is diverse, and you can enjoy the local flavors.
The shrine is located in the lush green forest of Atsuta, surrounded by camphor trees that are more than 1,000 years old. Known as "Atsuta-san" since ancient times, the shrine is well known to the people and attracts about 7 million worshippers a year. The shrine was founded in 113 B.C. The Kusanagi Sword, one of the three sacred weapons, is enshrined here, and the shrine has long been revered b...»
Nagoya Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first barbarian general of the Edo shogunate, with a total of more than 5 million construction workers, and was well known throughout Japan. Built in 1612 by Tokugawa Ieyasu as his final effort to unify the country, Nagoya Castle, with its glittering golden orchids, prospered as the stronghold of the Owari Domain, the first of the three Tokugawa fam...»
At one of the largest aquariums in Japan, you will be welcomed by 50,000 marine creatures of about 500 species, including killer whales, emperor penguins, sea turtles, and tropical fish. It is also the only two places in Japan where you can meet killer whales and emperor penguins! South Pavilion] Journey to Antarctica The South Pavilion recreates the waters from Japan to Antarctica and introduc...»
The Nagoya City Science Museum is a comprehensive science museum equipped with one of the world's largest planetarium domes with an inner diameter of 35 meters, where you can enjoy learning about science. The exterior design emphasizes the spherical shape of the dome, the planetarium, and instantly catches the eye. In addition, there are four large exhibits rich in entertainment value, including...»
The dish which put in and boiled the solid and thick noodles which are made with only flour and water for the thick soup which was made with soup stock of dried bonito and the Haccho soybean paste which is Nagoya specialty. Chicken, thin fried tofu, egg and leek include and are also excellent in nutrient balance in topping material. The Haccho soybean paste in which I take the leading part in seas...»
A dish with small chunks of grilled eels topped on rice in a small ohitsu. It is said that the origin of Hitsumabushi is a staff meal which used offcuts of eels. You can enjoy 3 different flavors of Hitsumabushi from one serving of ohitsu, put some from ohitsu into a bowl and eat as it is, and top with condiments such as negi, kizaminori, and wasabi for the second serving, then again top with cond...»
The taste of the common people who boiled giblets of a cow fiber and pork with fermented soybean paste and sweet rice cooking wine. "DO, please", it's called. It's one of the dish which represents Nagoya loved at a house and a pub and is said to be the dish Osaka origination transferred from "DO, and, baking". Mini-fermented soybean paste of Haccho soybean paste and red miso necessary to the taste...»
Temmusu is a bite-sized onigiri (rice ball) with small shrimp tempura inside. No salt is used for the rice, as flavored shrimp tempura is used. The springy shrimp, light batter and rice make the best combination. Nowadays it is famous as a delicacy of Nagoya, however the roots of this onigiri is said to be Tsu City, Mie prefecture. It started as the worker’s meal in a tempura restaurant in Tsu cit...»
Almost all cutlet restaurants in the Tokai area has “miso cutlet” in their menus. It is an extremely popular dish and is one of the representative dishes of Nagoya, called “Nagoya Meshi”. This is a dish where a special sauce made of haccho miso, bonito stock and sugar is poured on top of the cutlet. Some say that its origin was when just after WW2, a customer in a bar dipped a skewer cutlet into t...»