Inuyama's Pleasant, Too

If you happen to be in Nagoya and don't mind spending a couple of bucks on the train ticket, you'll be pleased enough to know that the city has its own rustic little suburban village. Just like Tokyo has the nearby Kawagoe, Nagoya has Inuyama to remind it of its past days. You'll find it's a pleasant enough place to spend the day, without being totally dinky and boring.

I had to stand on top of a fence to take this picture.

 What actually puts Inuyama on the map, though, is that it has its very own castle! And despite not being anywhere near as big or as famous as the nearby Nagoya Castle, it is notably one of the most ancient castles in all of Japan, being one of th 4 castles to be designated a national treasure. For the record, the other three are Hikone, Himeji, and Matsumoto. Also, it is just as closed as Nagoya Castle during the 29th to 31st of December. Lesson learned, but going around the area climbing things to try to get good pictures was kind of fun in its own way too.
Asides from the castle and the temple at the foot of its hill, the town has a wonderfully rustic-looking street running down its center, full of little shops selling locally grown vegetables and hand crafted good such as sandals and Japanese-style clothes. It makes for quite a nice stroll.
Though I haven't visited myself, and therefore can't really recommend it with certainty, the town's also known for having an open-air museum full of relocated buildings from the Meiji-era, such as a cathedral from Kyoto or a prison from Kanazawa.
At any rate, if any of that sounds interesting to you at all, maybe drop by Inuyama if you happen to be near the Nagoya area!

Nagoya Flavors

Nagoya actually has a couple of local specialties. As a matter of fact, when I told friends I'd be spending a few days there, I got more recommendations for dishes than I did for actual things to do or places to see (which was left to me to figure out.) To me, who, as you may know already, am not a real connoisseur when it comes to food, Nagoya seemed to have richer, more varied flavors than Tokyo, which to my knowledge has a more subtle type of cuisine. Here's what I ate!

Misokatsu
It's pretty much a twist on the classic Japanese dish, but adding a layer of sweet miso to the deep fried pork (or in my case, chicken) really gives it a unique flavor along with its red color. I actually enjoyed the way it was partly crispy, partly tender and soggy. The good thing, too, is that it's often served with a set like you'll see in the picture, accompanied by pickled vegetables and miso soup. So good I had to eat it twice.

Tebasaki Chicken
 That's actually simply the way you say "chicken wings" in Japanese. You can find chicken wings just about at any izakaya in Japan, but Nagoya claims the dish as one of its local specialties, and it's easy to see why. The Nagoya chicken wings are topped with a rich combination of spicy peppers, giving them a whole lot of bite. For a Japanese dish, it's actually quite spicy, which isn't something common in this country.

Kishimen
The local twist on the common udon dish has the large noodles in a flat, ribbon-like shape rather than its more often seen thick noodle cousin. I wouldn't say this style of udon does much in terms of changing the taste of the dish itself, but it's nice to try if you're a fan of udon. Of course, just like any other kind of udon, it can be eaten cold and dipped into a cold broth, as pictured, or it can come served in a hot broth, not unlike soba.

Friendly, Livable Nagoya

Ah, Nagoya! Falling 4th in Japan in terms of population, behind Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka, Nagoya actually has a whole lot going for it - but I didn't know that when I got out of the bus. My decision to go to Nagoya was for the most part me spontaneously wanting to go somewhere during my brief break from work, without having much in mind when it came to what to do. But the tickets were cheap, and, after being dumped out in the middle of the downtown area at 6 AM, I made my way to McDonalds, and began sorting out my trip. And the results were good! Here are the things you can do in Nagoya - in one post this time, so it might be a bit of a long one!
 Here's a tip: you can buy a pass allowing you to use the subway system an unlimited amount of times within a day for 600¥. Talk about savings. I can't advise this enough.

One of the places that came recommended to me was the Atsuta shrine. Very much like its equivalent in Tokyo, the Meijijingu, Atsuta is a shrine dedicated to the worship of the old Shinto religion. Just like Meijijingu, so too is Atsuta shrine located at the end of a path taking you through very ancient woods - despite being rather close to the central part of the city. Atsuta shrine is beautiful in its serenity, undisturbed and surrounded by some truly impressive, ancient trees which appear to be in the hundreds.
Whether it was just at that specific time or date, I
don't know, but unlike Meijijingu, it wasn't possible to enter the immediate vicinity of the central shrine, which was surrounded by a large zen garden - the type with small, white sand like stone with lines carefully drawn into it. Being that I was there on the 30th of December, I found a large gathering of religious officials in the midst of planning for a ceremony, all dressed in white. Mysterious!

Of course, the first thing thing that most people will mention if asked what there is to see in Nagoya is the Nagoya Castle, though. With its roof being the color of rusted copper, adorned with its signature golden fish on each side, Nagoya Castle is one of the most impressive of its kind in Japan, and certainly one of the largest. However, it wouldn't do not to keep in mind that the actual Nagoya Castle of the Edo period was blasted to hell during World War II, with this one standing in its place as a reconstruction, the process of which is still ongoing. Though the central keep itself is complete, the rest of the palace buildings aren't due until the end of 2018.
 Well, not that any of that mattered to me, seeing as the castle grounds were closed off for the end of the year. The closest I could actually get to Nagoya castle was peeking at it through the bars of the gates, or climbing trees to get the best view I could. Fortunately, the main keep is pretty elevated, so I didn't fare too bad, I think, but it was a huge shame not to be able to have a closer look, or to see none of the other parts of the castle. That being said, it wasn't long until I got moving again.

 Moving on to something a little more modern, Nagoya has a rather handsome port a little ways out of its center, too. If you aren't too picky, there's more than enough stuff to do to spend the day here: there's a sizable aquarium for the families, or for those looking to learn something out of the ordinary, an Antarctic exploration ship is moored here, and has been turned into a museum of sorts. On site is also a small theme park for younger children, which is free to enter and houses the tallest Ferris wheel in the Chubu province, which is the central region of Japan. The area itself is full of bridges, interesting architecture, and the seafront of course, so I actually did go ahead and board the Ferris wheel, and got a good look at the area as a result, which was nice, but definitely not necessary in order to admire Nagoya Port. You can get the best of the area by walking its bridges and walkways, and without paying a dime.

 The next spot I visited was Nagoya's central Buddhist temple, the Osu Kannon temple. Completely contrary to Atsuta Shrine, Osu Kannon embraces its urban setting. Its grounds are very compact and full of visitors, especially given the encroaching New Year. Surrounded by very busy shopping streets, Osu Kannon is a nugget of tradition within a bustling area in the midst of modernization. Thanks to its long, roofed shopping streets, it's as good an area as central Nagoya to get some shopping done, or to grab a bite, but the temple itself is fairly compact, despite its large size. Still, Osu Kannon is impressive and fun to go see, whether to climb its stairs to pray, or merely to gawk at the crazy amount of pigeons at the bottom of said stairs, and the children on spot feeding them bird grains, which seemed to be a very common thing here. The bird grains are even sold on spot, so such a thing appeared to be encouraged, really.

And finally, as the day ran its course, I made my way to Sakae, the most bustling district of Nagoya. In terms of city life, Sakae is where it happens: the district has the biggest shopping malls, eateries, clubs, hotels, you name it.
 And right at its center stands Nagoya's own tower - sister to those in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kyoto and Sapporo - and arguably the one with the best surrounding area! Leading up to the tower is park, making the stroll quite a pleasant one, but if you really want to get the best shot of Nagoya Tower, wait until night and climb to the top of the nearby Oasis 21 shopping center. The building's roof top has a pool of water and is illuminated at night, which really looks great all together, plus the tower turns gold rather than its regular cold steel color.
Fun fact: Sakae is the birthplace of SKE48, the Japanese pop band with 48 female members, based on the model of Akihabara's AKB48 in Tokyo.


 Whew, I think I got just about everything. I'll be posting about Nagoya's numerous specialty foods soon too, plus a little extra side trip I did while in the area. Hurrah!