Nagoya

Last Updated on July 16, 2026

Japan’s fourth city

Nagoya is a city that flies beneath the radar. As Japan’s fourth-largest city, it attracts over ten million fewer annual visitors than Kyoto and Osaka, with many travellers, both foreign and domestic, transiting through this regional transport hub. On a second trip to Japan, I wanted to explore beyond the big three cities that comprise the so-called Golden Route.  While Nagoya cannot be described as off the beaten track, working with Tourism Designers, I was introduced to a local experience steeped in an earlier era of the city’s history, including castles, art museums, and local crafts, along with some memorably terrific food. My overall impression was so positive that I unreservedly recommend Nagoya as a destination in its own right.

My primary reason for visiting the area was to steep myself in Japan’s feudal history. Nagoya was the capital of the Owari clan, who ruled the area during the Edo Period (1603 – 1868), when, after 150 years of civil warfare, Japan experienced a period of peace under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional daimyo (feudal lords). The city of Nagoya is samurai territory. The samurai were private armies of the feudal lords (daimyo) and became a social class of their own. Although the Disneyfied depiction of the samurai portrays them as warmongers, they had a strict social and military code of ethics, were literate and produced many writers, and enjoyed and cultivated the arts, including the tea ceremony.

MUSEUMS

Nagoya Castle was once the seat of government for the domain of the Lord of the Owari clan. While the castle cannot be entered,  it is an impressive sight with its green copper roof.  Alongside the castle is the Hammaru Palace, both of which were rebuilt after being destroyed in the 1945 air raids. 

Fortunately, extensive drawings and photographs were available to the team rebuilding these national treasures. The restored palace opened in 2018, and while the original screens in the palace were destroyed, they have been repainted. As there is no attempt to pretend they date back hundreds of years, this leaves them looking fresh, and they gleam with gold leaf, with exquisite detail of animals and plants. There are intriguing 3D wooden carvings above doorways, brightly painted in gold, red, green and blue, which are unique to Nagoya. The Hammaru Palace was originally built in 1634, and the current building enables visitors to experience the opulent splendour of a time long past, and allows us to imagine the sights and sounds of the dignitaries with their retinue of samurai residing in this palace.

Following a lunch of buckwheat noodles with mountain vegetables, we spent a few hours at the Tokugawa Art Museum, which houses a fascinating array of artworks and domestic items that have been passed along the family line from the ninth son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the shogun who brought 200 years of peace to Japan during what is known as the Edo period. Here, we were able to immerse ourselves in the life of the Daimyo (lord) from his tea room to samurai arms and armour, ceramics, furnishings and artworks. The museum is set in a large garden where we walked among ponds and waterfalls, wooden bridges, and streams, with displays of azaleas and irises in full bloom.

For those interested in the Edo period of Japanese history, Nagoya and its environs hold a fascinating glimpse into cultural and political history. Yet there is much more besides. Fans of the Ghibli films will be thrilled with Ghibli Park, where visitors can explore the life-sized film sets, including My Neighbour Totoro. Nagoya is the home of Toyota, and those interested in technology will have a field day at the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, where the history of both textile weaving and automotive industries is on display.  A futuristic building houses the FUJI Nagoya Science Museum and planetarium. There are enough art museums to keep visitors busy for days on end.

STAYING LOCAL

Although I am partial to a five-star hotel break, I mostly enjoy exploring local accommodation options that give me a feel for the flavour of the city. In Nagoya, I discovered that young entrepreneurs are restoring traditional houses and making these available to tourists who can book a stay in a local community. We were booked into a beautifully renovated small house with traditional Japanese furnishings in an alley off Endoji Shopping Street, an old-fashioned covered shopping arcade surrounded by small businesses that are reinvigorating the area. The shopping arcade harks back hundreds of years to the Edo period, when it developed as a commercial area in a bustling temple and shrine town. It is both nostalgic and charming and an antidote to the skyscrapers of modern Nagoya. As tourists who prefer to be active visitors, this option encouraged us to travel slow and local.

Nagoya has a history of traditional craftmaking, and we chose from a range of activities on offer to visitors. One of the highlights of our sojourn in Nagoya was a lantern-making workshop in a small shop in the covered market. At Wazamon Chaya, we met a kind and gentle master lantern maker who taught us some of the rudiments of Nagoya chochin lantern making, in which washi (Japanese paper) is pasted onto a collapsible bamboo frame. Due to the confluence of natural resources and local politics during the feudal era, Nagoya has a long history as a lantern-making centre. 

As the region was ruled by the Owari Tokugawa family during the Edo Period, it was fortuitous that one of the lords, Ieyasu, focused on improving the economy and manufacturing of his region. There was a large population in the region, and everyone needed light, which in those days meant lanterns. Having access to dense forests and excellent quality of water, papermaking was a local craft and bamboo from the mountains could easily be transported around Japan from the centrally located Nagoya. During this period, 60 % of Japan’s lanterns were made in this area. Artisans developed their skills through unique commissions and began to train apprentices. Nowadays, most lanterns are exported to Europe, but wherever I travelled in Japan, I noticed a multitude of paper lanterns in a diverse range of shapes and sizes. I had a new appreciation of how these are made, and once home, I opened my suitcase to find that the two small lanterns we had made during the workshop had survived the trip in perfect condition.

CUISINE

The regional cuisine of Nagoya is known as Nagoya meshi and is recognised as a distinct food culture. We made sure to sample as much of the local food as we could during our stay in the city, which began with our breakfasts that were located within a couple of minutes’ walk from our accommodation. One morning, we ate at New Poppy, a small eatery in a refurbished traditional house, where we discovered that the owner is a coffee roaster and musician. It had the sort of hipster vibes you might find back home in Shoreditch. Breakfasts included a traditional Nagoya speciality called ogura toast. This was a doorstopper-sized slice of black sesame shokupan (milk bread) toast, topped with azuki (red bean) paste and a scoop of ice cream. It was accompanied by a tiny jug of cold coffee syrup.

The following morning, we ate at Matsuba, a traditional Japanese-style cafe called a kissaten. Here you can experience the local ‘morning’ culture which is uniquely found in central Japan. In many kissaten you order a coffee and it is served with a free slice of Ogura toast and an egg. Matsuba has been serving this breakfast since 1933. The idea began as a way to ensure working people had a nutritious and affordable breakfast, and even now, we only paid £2.50 each. At the 8 am opening, there was a queue of mostly elderly regulars. I felt honoured to be there, attempting to make early-morning conversation and answering enquiries about where we hailed from. Once seated at a simple wooden table, we chose from a cup of coffee or tea and were served a slice of Ogura toast with azuki bean paste, jam, or cinnamon, or a small pot of potato salad. This simple breakfast will linger in my mind long after numerous 5-star hotel buffets have faded from memory.

In the evening, we ate locally too. We were taken on a sake crawl by a part-time radio DJ, which included visiting two small izakaya (bars that serve food)  we would never have found on our own. That is the beauty of food tours in a new city, and I loved that we were supporting small businesses. The sake was predictably good, and the food was some of the tastiest I ate during my trip. Not high-end dining, but really excellent bar food. The first bar served the best chicken wings I have ever tasted, super crispy and deliciously spiced with black pepper, soy and sesame seeds.

This dish is known as tebasaki and is usually enjoyed with a cold beer. We had a Nagoya speciality, a crumbed pork cutlet with red miso, served here as a large lollipop on a skewer. Shrimp katsu brought huge shrimp with gorgeous crispiness. Red miso is a feature of the region and added fabulous umami flavour to a slow-cooked beef stew.

The next bar served us six sakes, which ensured a good night’s sleep. The freshly cooked food included a collagen-rich red snapper head soup and another with uni (sea urchin), tofu skin and salmon roe.

The following evening, we sampled another dish for which Nagoya is renowned. While grilled eel is a popular Japanese dish, hitsumabashi is an eel dish served in a style local to this city.  Diners are presented with a large bowl of rice, topped with deeply lacquered grilled eel, the glaze being particularly tasty. First, you eat some of the rice with the eel. During the second serving, you add spring onion and wasabi, adding crunch and heat. In the third helping, known as una-chazuke, you add sancho pepper and dried nori (seaweed) before pouring over dashi. The final serving is the diner’s choice – whichever course you most enjoyed is eaten again. At the end, we drank a bowl of eel liver soup. It was both a delicious and filling dinner plus an experience to sit in a specialist restaurant surrounded by people enjoying Nagoya-style eel.

DAYTRIPS

Nagoya is conveniently positioned for day trips, and visitors would be well advised to base themselves there for a few days while exploring the surrounding areas.

I recommend a particularly peaceful trip to Inuyama, a castle town easily reached by local train. Here we found the beautiful Japanese garden called Uraku-en, which houses not only a stunning selection of plants, but also a Japanese National Treasure – the ancient teahouse, Jo-An, constructed in 1618 by a samurai who was master of the tea ceremony. The teahouse was transported from its original location in Kyoto to the Uraku-en garden, which was established around the teahouse. Although this ancient structure is too fragile to use, we were able to take a good look at it before entering a nearby more modern teahouse. Here we sat on cushions on tatami mats, gazing out over the gardens while enjoying a tea bowl of matcha and a wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet) served before the slightly bitter tea. The garden was a haven of peaceful contemplation, as is the case in so many Japanese gardens.  

A joint ticket allows entry to Inuyama Castle, situated on top of a steep hill overlooking the Kiso River and the wide open plain below. Built in 1537, it is the oldest standing castle in Japan and was once part of a complex that housed samurai who fought to protect their Lord’s lands against warring clans. After climbing up many flights of very steep steps to the top of the castle, we learned more about the samurai who lived here. Later, we strolled down Castle Street, which retains traditional dark wooden buildings from the Edo period, now housing cafes, restaurants, and small shops where local craftspeople work and sell their goods.

Nagoya is a jump-off point for the Nakasendo trail. This is a very popular hiking trail through the Kiso Valley to the north of the city, and its starting point is accessible from Nagoya via train and a bus. The trail goes all the way to Tokyo, which takes many weeks, but most visitors do the first part of the trail, which can be done in a day. We spent several days on the Nakasendo trail, which I  thoroughly recommend if you have time. Alternatively, companies including Tourism Designers can arrange a guide to escort you on a day trip to complete a three-hour hike between two fascinating villages. This removes any hassle factor from the organising, especially if your time is limited.

Nagoya is very well connected to many major cities and is served by the Shinkansen (bullet train), enabling us to travel to Nagoya from Tokyo in just over 90 minutes. Just enough time to enjoy the view and eat our bento box lunch.

Nagoya is far less visited than the larger cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, each of which offers its own delights to tourists. Nagoya too has much to offer the visitor, from museums, castles, gardens, crafts, and a mix of the old and the new. While I usually prefer to arrange my own activities, in such a large city, I found that working with Tourism Designers enabled me to take a deeper dive into a part of the city I would not have accessed easily on my own. I have hardly scratched the surface, but what I can say from my experience is that Nagoya should blow its trumpet a lot louder.

FACT BOX

Tourism Designers

I was fortunate to work with Tourism Designers, an organisation embedded in an historic area of the city. They provide tailored tours and utilise local cultural resources and people to provide the best hospitality and experiences for foreign tourists. Tourism Designers have a wide range of tours and ideas. I recommend asking them to arrange local accommodation and restaurants that are situated in the surrounding community. The website has a comprehensive list of the tours they offer, as well as the cultural activities and workshops they arrange for you to participate in. I found this organisation to be well organised and very responsive to communications.

Holiday Extras

I flew to Japan on an early-morning Japanese Airlines (JAL) flight from Heathrow Terminal 3, which would have required leaving home in the small hours. Far more convenient and relaxing was an overnight stay at Hilton Garden Inn T2 & T3. I arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon, relaxed on the rooftop Runway Bar, mesmerised by the constant stream of flights taking off into the setting sun, and then had dinner at the hotel restaurant. In the morning, I had a ten-minute covered walk from the hotel lobby to the terminal beyond. A one-night stay at Hilton Garden Inn T2 & T3 is £269 (check the website for exact prices for your dates). Once I had checked in my luggage, I ate breakfast in the Clubrooms T3 and boarded my flight relaxed rather than frazzled. Entry into Clubrooms T3 at Heathrow Airport is available for £48.

I was hosted by Holiday Extras, the market leader in UK airport parking, hotels, lounges and transfers.

Check out our article: How to Plan an Itinerary for Japan