Nagoya Itinerary - What to do and eat in Nagoya, Japan

First up, I have to say I think there is truly nothing much in Nagoya. It lacks the cultural heritage of Kyoto, the laid back restful vibe of Nara, yet it has less things to do than the exciting cities of Tokyo and Osaka. It was also not as beautiful as Hakone. 

We took the JR Shinkansen using our JR Pass from Shin-Osaka to Nagoya station. 

What to eat in Nagoya

Miso Katsu at Yabaton: Yabaton has several outlets around Nagoya. We picked the one nearest to Nagoya Station at Meitetsu Department Store 9F. The queue was long when we reached around lunch time and people were queuing right into the stairwell. Thankfully the queue moved fast and we were inside Yabaton in about 20 minutes or so. The Miso Katsu at Yabaton was so good! Miso Katsu is basically katsu drenched in thick hot miso sauce. Portions are huge so be prepared to fill your belly to the brim!

Eat Miso Nikomi at Yamamotoya: We had Miso Nikomi for dinner in the Sakae region as we were wandering around the departmental stores at that time. Miso Nikomi is udon in thick hot miso gravy. It was delicious but be warned that you will be extremely thirsty after your meal. Oh and it was not the easiest to locate. 

1-11-25 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, or 1F Yamamotoya Honten Sakae Building 2-14-5 Sakae Naka-ku, Nagoya

What to do in Nagoya

The short answer is: nothing. Unless you are into the same old departmental stores that you see all around Tokyo and Osaka, Nagoya has pretty much nothing else interesting to offer. I did, however, manage to buy a leather bag at a very reasonable price in one of the departmental stores so I guess if you are into shopping, Nagoya is not that bad a city to visit!

Visit the departmental stores in Sakae: From Nagoya Station, take the Higashiyama Line (towards Fujigaoka) to Sakae Station. From Sakae Station, explore the numerous departmental stores in the area such as Matsuzakaya and Mitsukoshi. We went into Sunshine Sakae too, which was supposed to be a teen mall, but found nothing exciting inside.

Visit Oasis 21: Go up to the Water Spaceship Roof which is a circular dish with a large pool of water. Looks extremely futuristic and gives you a good view of downtown Nagoya. You can also see the Nagoya TV Tower from here!

That's about it for Nagoya. I wouldn't recommend it as a day trip or even a half-day trip. If you love miso, Nagoya has some pretty awesome miso dishes but that's about it.