Nana-chan Mannequin

Nana-chan is the giant fashion mannequin standing on the corner of Meitetsu Department Store's men's annexe at Nagoya Station, two storeys tall, almost always dressed in something current — the day's weather forecast clothes, a yukata in summer, kimono at New Year, sometimes a costume celebrating a sports team or anniversary. She has become the city's de facto meeting point ("at Nana-chan's feet"), in the way Hachiko's statue functions for Shibuya.

A small queue of teenagers usually photographs her costume of the week. The annexe inside sells men's clothes; the surrounding lanes lead to Nagoya Station's east-side underground arcades. Worth a five-minute detour for any visitor.

things to do sight
A story
Nana-chan was installed in 1973 outside the Meitetsu Men's Building on Nagoya Station's east front to mark a department-store anniversary, and was meant to be a temporary installation. The 6.1-metre fibreglass mannequin proved so popular as a meeting point that the building's management has dressed her in a different rotating outfit every two to three weeks ever since — over 1,000 changes of costume to date, and counting.