To be honest, when I was drawing up an itinerary for the Nagoya leg of my Japan tour (LOLZ. Indulge me, woncha.), there weren’t a lot of attractions in Nagoya that intrigued me. At least, according to those lists of “places to see in Nagoya”. Most were industrial-themed, and I was really more the type to go for culture, history, or nature. On hindsight, I realized there are such places in Nagoya; I just didn’t look hard enough. I suppose that is something to be rectified in the future?
Actually, we had one pressing reason for being in Nagoya. Three, to be more precise: the two nights’ WAVE concert of CNBLUE, and one night for the Arashi Digitalian concert. We figured we’d have to preserve our energies for the evenings so doing the amount of walking we did during our stay in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto was kinda out of the question. We did manage to squeeze in the Nagoya Castle (parts 1, 2, and 3), as I was adamant we at least check it out while we were there.
So as a wrap to my Nagoya trip, this is my photodiary consisting of some of the random stuff I saw there. 🙂
I already mentioned that we chose to stay in the Sakae area, which was considered a major shopping district in Nagoya. It’s a major hub, as it has everything: shopping malls, food places, bars and pubs, karaoke, and even a ferris wheel. 🙂
After the first night of the CBLUE concert, we were looking for a place to eat (this preceded our izakaya experience), we surfaced from the subway and came upon this….thing.
This is the OASIS 21, a “modern facility” or complex that houses a bus terminal, stores, shops, and restaurants, among others. That circular roof, which is called “Spaceship-Aqua” is made of glass and, apparently, there is a thin veil of water flowing on its surface. The edge of the roof is also a walking path.
By the time we were there, it was already late, so I think it was already closed to the public. It was still beautifully lit up, though. It utilized 42 large outdoor LED lights, which makes it the “highest-grade light up facility” in all of Japan.
And, adjacent to the Oasis 21 is the Nagoya TV Tower.
Four years before the Tokyo Tower was built, there was the Nagoya TV Tower, which makes it the first tower of its kind to be built in Japan. This broadcasting tower is 180m high, but the observation deck is at the halfway point, at 90m.
The tower shares a resemblance with the Eiffel Tower in France, so it comes as no surprise that it, too, has a restaurant high up there, although at the 30m mark.
I think I’ve had my fill of towers from walking around the Tokyo Tower deck, and checking out the Tokyo Skytree from a distance. It didn’t even occur to me to check out what the city looks like from up the Nagoya TV Tower.
Still within the vicinity of the Hisaya Odori Park, where both Oasis 21 and the TV Tower are located, we walked around and spotted some… risque (to some) statues.
A shopping hub in Japan would probably be incomplete without a Daiso or a Don Quijote (or DonKi) outlet, and here we spotted a huge DonKi building! This is where we did our last-minute shopping for some nibbles to bring back home to the Philippines.
I mentioned a ferris wheel earlier, right? Well, it looks even prettier at night, all lit up and sparkly and bright!
At first glance, it looks so out of place, because it is in the middle of a busy street, in between tall buildings. It is called the SKY BOAT Ferris Wheel, and it is attached to the side of the Sunshine Sakae shopping and entertainment complex. It has a diameter of 42 meters, and one ride apparently costs 500 JPY.
It was also in Nagoya where I spotted my first snowfall. Granted, it was soooo fleeting, and it felt more like drizzle or shower, but it happened nonetheless.
I was never one of those people who are keen to experience snow. I’m a tropical girl at heart, I suppose, although I much prefer the temperate climes of the highlands. I like the cold, but the thought of living in a snowy area is not my cuppa tea.
Still, I admit that this short sighting, albeit through the window of our hotel room, excited me. (I think my friend was more excited for me and my first snow than I was, haha!) Here’s a view of the street from our room, by the way.
And, speaking of snow, this was already the beginning of December, so… Christmas spirit is starting to make its presence felt!
Now let’s move to the Nagoya Station, aka the “world’s largest station building in terms of land area”.
I arrived in Japan two weeks prior via Chubu International Airport, and I took the train directly to the Nagoya Station. Seeing as I was on my own, I think I memorized the route through the station to the hostel where I spent the night before leaving on the shinkansen headed to Tokyo the next morning. One of the landmarks that I used was the Golden Clock.
Considered to be one of the major meeting spots in the Nagoya Station, you cannot miss the Kin no Tokei, or Golden Clock. When I arrived at around 10pm in the evening, there were a handful of people hanging around the clock. This time, at midmorning, it was packed.
On the other end of the station is the smaller Gin no Tokei, or Silver Clock. It was less “grand”, but it was still a useful meeting place for many people. It is located at the Sakura-dori exit of the Station.
The Nagoya Station building is a shopping complex as well, because it has JR Takashiyama department store, several brand stores and premium outlets, and even a 7-level Tokyu Hands store!
We spotted a Laduree store, and I planned to go back later (after watching the Miracle movie) to buy some of their famous macarons to bring home, but we were already out of time, so we weren’t able to come back here. Boo-hoo.
By the way, this was where we kept our luggage while we went to watch the movie. I think we rented a total of 4 of these coin lockers for the morning. 🙂 Very convenient.
When you step outside the station, you’d immediately spot some high-end shopping stores across the street. There’s Midland Square right across the road. The tower of Midland Square (bottom left pic) stands at 247m, which makes it the tallest building in central Japan.
The lower right photo above are the Twin Towers of the Nagoya Station. Yep, these are hugely responsible for the large building area occupied by Nagoya Station. So imposing. One tower serves as the Office Tower, while the other is a Hotel Tower. If memory serves me right, it is The Marriott.
Remember when we were cruising towards Akihabara and we spotted a loooooong queue of people buying lottery tickets? We saw the same thing here.
This was one of the structures close to the Station that caught my eye. In the right photo, I suggest you don’t stop to take a pic in the middle of the road, even if the lights are red, haha!
It is the Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers. Gakuen means “school”, so it follows that this building is an educational facility.
This 36-floor building houses the Nagoya Mode Gakuen (a vocational school for fashion), HAL Nagoya (voc school for information technology and design), and Nagoya Isen (voc school for medicine and welfare). The unique architecture of this building made it a finalist in the “Best Tall Building Asia and Australasia 2014” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
I was actually torn between taking the shinkansen from Nagoya to Tokyo, or taking the highway bus instead. Time-saving won out, so I chose the shinkansen. The terminal for buses making the long trips from Nagoya to Tokyo and vice versa is also outside the Station. And you can see a glimpse of the bullet train here.
Do you see the tower on the background of this photo of the shinkansen? And the far left tower on the second pic below. That’s the Lucent Tower, with its 40 floors, and the most recent addition to the Nagoya Station area.
Walking around, we saw large areas undergoing massive construction work. That is because there are two skyscrapers being constructed and they are still part of the Nagoya Station. One is the Dai Nagoya Building, and the other is the new Nagoya Terminal building. They say that the new Terminal building will have a branch of Yodobashi Camera. It is due to be completed next year.
Goodness, just how big does this place plan to become?
Just walking around the Nagoya Station vicinity will take you hours, especially if you are the curious type. There are lots of things to see, so if you have the luxury of time, soak it all in!
If I have one regret about my visit to Nagoya, it is that I didn’t pay as much attention as I should’ve. I hope I will get the opportunity to correct that mistake in the future.
I say “see you again, Nagoya~” with this pic taken by Peach. Thanks for sharing this adventure/trip with me, and I hope we can do this again sometime soon!!!
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