Nagoya

Nagoya (名古屋) is a biiig town with thousands of restaurants, bookshops, bars, clubs, karaoke joints, everything you can imagine. Here's a small sampling of what's available for those in the Ken feeling city-starved.

Orientation

All trains from Mie (JR, Kintetsu, whatever) arrive at Nagoya Station. This is a massive complex with several department stores, endless restaurants, etc. - you can play here if you just want to shop and can't be bothered travelling to other parts of Nagoya.

The other main gaijin centre of gravity, as well as nightlife and shopping central, is Sakae. To get here you take the Higashiyama subway line (yellow line) two stops east from Nagoya Station to, funnily enough, Sakae Station (only takes a few minutes, ¥200). You'll find yourself in a nest of more underground shopping malls - best to head up to street level to work out where the hell you are (unless there's a typhoon on). (You can also use Yabachō subway station for the south of the Sakae shopping area, but getting there from Nagoya station requires changing lines so it's a bit of a pain.)

Ōsu-Kan'non is another cool area with the famous-ish Ōsu-Kan'non temple, and seems to be where the funky people who can't afford Sakae hang out. Subway: Ōsu-Kan'non; see below for more details.

Nagoya International Association publishes a monthly English guide to what's on in Nagoya, including movies, events, classes, etc. - you can pick it up in Maruzen bookstore and various cafes/bars.

Transportation

• Train

  All lnies converge at Nagoya station. JR also runs some trains across town, useful if you're going to Kanayama or some other places. Day trips from Nagoya will also all start here.

• Subway

  Definitely the best way to get around Nagoya - there's a subway map in the back of the JET diary.

• Buses

  Don't try getting around Nagoya on local buses unless you have to. The long-distance bus centre is at Nagoya station, with buses to everywhere you can imagine.

Shopping

There's far too much of it to list in full. In Sakae, the main road running south of the station (Otsu-dori) has Mitsukoshi, Melsa, Skyle, Parco, La Chic, Matsuzakaya, and endless other big buildings full of endless shops. It also has big-name foreign clothes stores like Benetton, Gap, Zara, etc. and cafes to boot. See map link above.

Just west of the station, on Hirokoji-dori just past Maruei dept store, is the unbeatable Maruzen bookstore, as well as Meidi-ya foreign foods store - yum.

This area also has Loft (look for the big yellow sign), a fun department store with stylish goodies, and endless Starbucks outlets. Muji is in the basement of Melsa, and UniQlo is on the 6th or 7th floor of same. There's a big HMV store spread over the 3rd and 4th floors of Skyle.

Also in Sakae check out Sakura Apartments, a small complex of shops run by young designers etc. with a funky atmosphere. Turn right (west) off Otsu-dori at the 3-floor shoe store (almost opposite Parco) and it's a few doors down on the left.

At Nagoya station, all the department stores and malls are full of the usual stuff. At the top of Takashimaya dept store, the most expensive of them all, is quite a good English-language book section if you can't be bothered going to Maruzen in Sakae. Takashimaya also incorporates an 8-floor Tokyu Hands for all your sporting, outdoor, lifestyle-ish needs. There's also a foreign food store outside, between the Meitetsu and Kintetsu areas.

Osu-Kannon has endless cheaper shops for locals, including lots of second-hand clothes stores, spreading through covered malls immediately east of the temple. You can find these malls by heading into the temple grounds - they adjoin the east side. There are also lots of cool cafes - watch out for ERIC, 100 metres north of the north exit from the temple grounds. A few blocks east, in the eastward expanse between Osu-Kannon and Sakae/Yabacho, is an electronic goods area akin to a (much) smaller version of Akihabara in Tokyo - good for cameras, phones, computers & peripherals. There's also an all-things-Okinawa shop, near the game centre & Mr Donut.

For books, see above. For magazines, JETs recommend going to Tower Records (Parco in Sakae, or Kintetsu Pass'e at Nagoya station) or HMV in Sakae - cheaper than the bookstores.

Also recommended by JETs is Don Quixote, "a massive place that is like a maze inside, and they carry everything. From sneakers to watches, from bath towels to car stereos, from vitamins to Hello Kitty 'massaging devices', they have it! Prices were quite reasonable." Directions: "Very near the JR Otoubashi station, which is aparently very near the old baseball staduim (not Nagoya Dome)." Kanji: 尾頭橋. Just before Kanayama on the JR line.

Another food store: "Hallo 2. This is like an exploded Meidi-ya. Difficult to get to. Take the Higashiyama line to Issha station. Go out. You are standing at a crossroads. Take the two lane street in an uphill direction. Walk past three street lights. Turn right. It's right there on the left. Cool place. About a 15 minute walk (and maybe 25 minute subway ride from Nagoya station)."

Links

• Kikuko's Nagoya Information

  For incredible listings of events, festivals, concerts, plus detailed maps of many areas in Nagoya, check out the regularly updated handiwork of the amazing Kikuko. It also has maps of the area and more.