Nagoya sits at the heart of central Honshu, about 90 minutes by shinkansen southwest of Tokyo and an hour north of Kyoto. It's Japan's fourth-largest city, heavily industrial (Toyota's headquarters are just outside), and usually skipped by visitors racing between the big hitters. That's a mistake: Nagoya has enough to fill two or three good days, especially for travellers with a serious interest in Japanese history.
Nagoya Castle is the headline sight — the white five-storey keep, topped with its famous golden dolphins, was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in concrete, but the reconstructed Honmaru Palace beside it is the real draw, meticulously recreated in traditional carpentry and painted screens. Atsuta Shrine, one of Shinto's most sacred sites, shelters the legendary Kusanagi sword.
Osu, just south of the castle, is a buzzing old neighbourhood of covered shopping arcades, temple grounds, and second-hand shops around the working Osu Kannon temple. The Shikemichi quarter preserves a handful of Edo-era merchant houses. And for railway and industrial heritage fans, the SCMaglev and Railway Park and the Toyota Commemorative Museum are both outstanding. The Tokugawa Art Museum with the adjoining Tokugawa-en garden makes a quieter morning.
Nagoya's food is one of the reasons to come. Miso-katsu (the original at Yabaton), hitsumabushi or grilled eel over rice (at Hourai-ken), and tebasaki crispy chicken wings (Sekai no Yamachan or Furaibo) are the local specialties — distinct enough to have their own style name, Nagoya-meshi.
Day trips open up considerably from here: Inuyama with its original 16th-century castle, the preserved post town of Magome in the Kiso Valley, and the sacred Ise Shrine are all within easy reach.