whkento

Hmmm... I've lived in Nagoya for 7 1/2 years now. While there aren't a lot of impressive buildings here, if you take a moment to look deeper, there are a lot of cool things, mostly nearby.

As previously noted, the Tokugawa museum is nice and hosts several important special exhibitions throughout the year, including a showing of the original Tale of Genji scrolls every ten years or so. The Noritake museum is interesting as well. I'd skip Nagoya Castle, though--it's been rebuilt with a lot of concrete and even has an elevator. Of course, if you or a traveling companion are disabled, it's one of few castles which are accessible.

The best castle to see is Inuyama Castle (in nearby Inuyama City). It is the oldest, still-standing, family-owned (not gov't owned) castle in all of Japan. the sacred tree right next to the castle once took a huge lightning bolt which would have destroyed the castle. Inuyama is also home to the karakuri ningyo (animated doll) museum and parade floats. It may sound silly, but these hand-operated, mechanical dolls are basically very old, wooden Transformers. It's pretty amazing to watch them play out an entire story, changing from character to character at the top of a twenty-foot parade float in the street.

Nearby Seto city is home to very famous pottery makers. Nearby Aomori is home to very famous shibori (tie-dye) producers. Of course Toyota has already been mentioned, but its museum is really quite good and the restaurant makes a nice (and cheap) steak lunch. Of course, Okazaki has the most famous castle (featured in many movies, including The Last Samurai). My favorite day trip is the Seki City cutlery festival in October. If you like knives/swords this is a must-see.

There are also several festivals in Nagoya and surrounding areas which are great fun throughout the summer. Literally the best fireworks in the world.

With that said, I can understand the original thread title. Looking around Nagoya itself is not very impressive. A lot of concrete and not much green. But it's not a bad place to live. Mostly because of the great places so nearby. For example, I'm going camping on the beach this weekend, just an hour out of town. The following weekend, I'll be camping by a beautiful river about 1 1/2 hours away.

Okay, I'm done.

Kento