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Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan. It is also known as the Central Japan. It is the capital Aichi Prefecture and it is also the center of Japan’s third largest metropolitan region, known as the Chukyo Metropolitan Area. It has its own airport, and has a direct flight for most countries like Singapore and Manila. It’s 3-hour travel via Bullet Train (Shinkansen) going to Tokyo. 1-hour travel via Bullet Train (Shinkansen) going to Osaka. 45mins travel via Bullet Train (Shinkansen) going to Kyoto.
This is where we stay, because my ex-bf’s mum stays at Chikusa. It was September, so it was cold and rainy. So most of the time, we were just underground! You won’t believe the amount of shops and things to do underground of Nagoya, I felt like I was living in a post-apocalyptic era where it’s not safe to live on the ground level haha!
The areas around the Nagoya Eki, Sakae and Ozu station are among the largest in Japan, with rows of apparel shops, variety stores, food shops, restaurants, etc. Since Nagoya is the Central in Japan, people from nearby cities and provinces go down here to shop because of wide varieties of selection and a lot cheaper than Tokyo. For example, one souvenir shirt in Tokyo costs around 2000 yen or S$27 but in Nagoya it’s only 1000 yen or S$14 only.
One good thing about Japan, they don’t have FAKE or IMITATION products! So guaranteed what you’ll buy is all original. That’s the reason why second-hand goods or “Ukay-Ukay” is so popular here, people just trade their branded clothings, bags, shoes, etc for the latest one, and people who can’t afford much doesn’t need to buy fake products, all they have to do is shop at these Ukay-Ukay “Department Stores”, believe me it doesn’t look like ukayukay!
We also went to see the Nagoya Castle. You must visit this because here you will learn why Nagoya’s symbol is “Golden Dolphin” because of the Golden Dolphin ornament at the tip of the Nagoya Castle’s roof. It doesn’t look like a dolphin to me, I thought it’s Tempura Shrimp hahaha! Because Tempura originated here in Nagoya also. So you must try the Tempura here 😉
We also had a quick walk around Sakae where we see the Nagoya TV Tower which is the oldest tower in Japan (older than Tokyo Tower!), and Hisaya Odori Park where you can enjoy the observation deck to see Nagoya at night. It was cold and raining, so we ended up shopping again and eating lots of Uiro (sticky rice balls like Mochi), Ramen (via vending machine type order taking) and of course, HUGE fresh Tempuras I’ve ever eaten!
