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Pictures: Downtown Nagoya

Nagoya Science Museum

Good for kids with lots of hands on type displays, (similar to our Sci-tech) but if you don't speak Japanese or can read Japanese characters, it is a little difficult to work out what it's all about. On the plus side however it is about the only place open before 10am and admission is only 600 yen.

Pictures: Nagoya Science Museum

Downtown Nagoya

A bustling city of contrasting cultures. In amongst Japanese Izakayas restaurants you will find Starbucks, McDonalds & Hard Rock Cafe's. Not as neon filled as Tokyo, Nagoya is a pleasant introduction to the Japanese culture.

There is a myriad of speciality & department stores to choose from, but none of them look cheap!

The Nagoya TV Tower, built in 1954, was the first TV tower built in Japan and at 180m high dominates the city skyline . It has an Observation Balcony 100 meters above ground where visitors can enjoy the spectacular view, while  enjoying a light meal or doing some shopping. It costs 750yen for adult and is open 7 days a week from 10am-9pm.

Restaurant - Yakitori

As we found out later, Yakitori is a style of food which comprises grilled meat on skewers; in this case the meat was chicken.

Located in the downtown Nagoya area, between Fushimi & Sakae stations along Hirokoji-dori as you walk towards Sakae station. On the right hand side of the road, it is a 2nd floor restaurant, so keep an eye out for the white sign up high.

They have both English & Japanese menus so ask for the English version. The Japanese version doesn't have many pictures either so you can't even point at the dishes. The waitress spoke some English so between her and my phrase book we got by.

The food was very nice, the restaurant clean and there was a good selection of different types of Japanese dishes to choose from.

We selected Japanese salad, honey chicken wings, seafood spring roll, chicken croquette, chicken rice balls & a traditional tofu dish that our waitress selected for us. Of course we washed it all down with warm sake.

As with most road side restaurants, this one is quite small and cosy The sitting is in semi-private booths that have 2 tables of 4. From your table you can see the chefs working in the open kitchen.

All together we had 5 dishes, 3 beers & 1 large sake which came to 5,639yen, including taxes - not bad really! They also accepted all credit cards.

Restaurant - Tonkatsu

Is a style of food specialising in pork cutlets. We went to a restaurant located on the 7th floor of the Nagoya train station. We found a "food court" on the north end of the station on the 7th floor, which had about 20 or so separate individual restaurants (so not a typical western style food court).

The menus were only available in Japanese, but they had excellent pictures so we were able to point to what we wanted. Each of the dishes was a combo, coming with the main dish (pork), a bowl of steamed rice, a bowl of seafood soup, & a small bowl of a unrecognised pickled vegetable (which wasn't bad).

I had a pork combo, and Sal had a mixed combo; pork, chicken & beef. The meat is coated in a batter that is a cross between crumbed & a tempura batter, and then it is deep fried. When eaten with a cup of the complimentary Japanese tea it isn't very oily and is rather nice.

It is served with a big pile of raw cabbage. I thought this was a bit bland until our waitress pointed out the bottle of dressing on the table that is for the cabbage. It is hard to described the taste of the dressing but it was very nice - a clear reddish colour, and a little sweet.

It was so different, and nice, that Sal tried to explain to the waitress that she wanted to buy some and so wanted to know what it was called. Anyway after some backwards and forwards'ing with the phrase book, the waitress bought out a bottle and added 300yen to the bill. Close enough!!

Each of the combo's cost between 900yen & 1,500yen

Osu Shopping Arcade

Picture: Osukannon Temple with Antique Market in Progress

Is a colourful collection of shops selling everything from computers to traditional Japanese china.

Located just outside Osukannon Station, Exit #2, on the Tsurumai Subway Line, the shopping arcade begins at Osukannon Temple and runs through to Banshoji Temple (one of Nagoya's oldest. Once called Kigakusan it was built in 1538 by Oda Nobuhide, father of the famous Nobunaga).

Walking through this arcade is a sensory overload; from the rich tapestry of colourful shops, to the aromas of the numerous food outlets, to the sounds of Japanese music, the Osu arcade will give you a real feel for the Japanese way of life.

If your here to shop then there's plenty of choice; shoes, china, computers, games, manchester, bags…etc,etc…the list is extensive. Be advised though not many of the shops, particularly the traditional types, accepted credit cards.

The day we were there the Osukannon Temple Antique Market was in session between the Osukannon temple and the arcade. It is held on the 18th & 28th of every month. It seems to be blend of new & second hand goods.

Picture: Osukannon Temple Antique Market

If you're looking for an authentic memento of your visit to Japan you're bound to find something here. It wasn't cheap, so knowing the phrases "ikura des ka" (how much is it?) and "takasugimas" (that's too expensive) came in very handy here.

The Osukannon Temple is definitely worth having a look at before you go into the arcade. A seemingly endless procession of Japanese file into the temple, make their offering, bow and leave. I wasn't sure if photos were allowed, so I erred on the side of caution and didn't take any of the interior.

Nagoya Gallery

                        Click here to view the Nagoya Picture Gallery