We headed to Nagoya out of desperation. We had been planning to welcome grandparents to Tokyo and then travel to Kyoto, but omicron revoked their visas. Then we were planning another trip to Tohoku, but we waited too long and all the hotels in our budget were full. Universal Studios and Disney were sold out. So, I thought, maybe the boys are still young enough to enjoy Lego Land?
I found a hotel that sleeps 5 and booked it. As we started researching, so many options kept popping up we didn't end up at Lego Land at all. I'm sure it would have been fun, but 14 is a bit old for it - and it looked very similar to the one we enjoyed in KL a few years ago. So, what did we do in Nagoya?
Day 1 - Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya. Lunch and leave luggage at the station. Train out to Inuyama Castle, one of five "national treasure" castles in Japan. We had visited Matsuyama Castle earlier this year, so somehow we'll have to make it out to the other three before we leave (two are fairly remote, so that will take some planning). Train back and then over to our hotel in the Osu area of Nagoya, checking in about 4pm. The boys then took a little screen break, while Greg and I walked around Osu - it had a lot of used clothing shops and some traditional Japanese shops from rice crackers to kimono. In addition to the window shopping, I found some used haori (kimono-like jackets) that I can use for koto concerts if I don't want to get all dressed up in kimono.
We scouted many delicious dinner locations, but settled on miso-katsu, the Nagoya version of fried pork cutlet. And, we opted for the biggest chain, Yaboton, over some of the tiny places, because they had no problem seating five people at one table.
Day 2 - breakfast at a delightful breakfast-only place called Early Birds. Little did we know the day we visited was their 9th anniversary, so we had to wait for a table as many regulars were eating that day, too. Highly recommend the biscuits and bacon! The boys enjoyed the last friend chicken and gravy (only one left - they had to split it.) Given that it only sat about 20 customers at once, somehow we all squeezed around a table meant for three.
Then we went out to the redeveloped port area (Nagoya-ko). After Odaiba's sparkle, we all felt like this redevelopment needed a little sprucing up, but it didn't detract from the fun. The public aquarium was fantastic, with two giant tanks for dolphins and orcas. Because it was a random Tuesday, it was only us and parents with preschoolers ... so plenty of time to plop down and simply watch the tanks.
After a few hours, we headed over to the Fuji Antarctic ice breaker ship. That was a pretty quick exploration, but fun all the same. Though the boys complained at first, the small Maritime Museum had some really fun moving dioramas of how the new port works - and two simulators where one could drive a ship into a port and also time yourself to take cargo off a ship and into the port. A trip up to the observation deck rounded out the day.
The area also houses a small amusement park and a human-size maze. We tried to go to the maze, but missed the hours ... and then the boys were too tired to walk all the way back to the other side to the amusement park, so we decided to call it a day and went home for an hour rest in the hotel.
Dinner was out and about in Osu. I had seen a delicious-looking three table yakiniku (grilled beef) restaurant - but apparently it was so delicious it was all booked all night. So we ended up at a random Turkish restaurant - the authenticity was questionable, but if the kids ate it up, I'm not complaining. And then we enjoyed walking around to find some sweet treats for dessert.
Day 3 - Breakfast at Denny's. Reliable, quick, comfortable seating for 5, and affordable :) Then we headed out to the JR Central museum - shinkansen (bullet train!) galore! Definitely recommend for any train enthusiast of any age! In addition to going in various trains, you can get tickets for a shinkansen driver simulator, a normal train driver simulator, and being a conductor on a train. The parents mistimed lunch, however, and we almost had a meltdown on our hands when all three boys wanted the same type of sandwich and only one was left. So, that grumpiness cut our time at the museum slightly shorter than we had anticipated.
After we filled up the stomachs and moods stabilized, we headed to the Nagoya Science Museum. At only 400 yen / adult (ages 15 and up, so only me and Greg) for the standard exhibits, this was an amazing deal. Also amazing - all of the hands on exhibits were open (with hand sanitizer everywhere). Had we gone in the morning, we could have also gotten tickets to the planetarium and the deep freeze lab room (not sure what that was, but donning parkas was involved). There was an awesome looking playground outside the museum - but as we went in the afternoon, it was getting dark and cold by the time we were done. So, note to future travelers: visit the science museum first thing in the day!
Greg and the boys went home for a little screen time, while I headed into a koto shop we had passed on the bus on Day 1. The shopowner was so surprised to talk to me, but he of course found what I had needed (a stand that broke during our move here) and also recommended some new pieces to me.
For dinner, we met up with the one State Department officer stationed in Nagoya and his wife - for Nagoya chochin chicken. We tried it many ways (fried chicken wings, grilled on a stick, as fried nuggets, with a sauce over rice, and then pudding made from its eggs) and all were very tasty! For this meal, given that we'd be 7 people, I did make reservations. I had to call four places before I found one that could seat us!
Day 4 - while Greg and I could have stayed longer, the boys were getting tired. They are out of practice for sightseeing and experiencing so many new things after two years of COVID staying home. So, we decided we'd go one place and then head home.
Breakfast again at Denny's, where the waitress couldn't believe we wanted to order 6 plates of french toast. But, hey, keep the boys fed!! Then we headed over to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, at the site of its first weaving company (before it became a car company). We chose it because of its proximity to Nagoya Station - though there were two other Toyota museum options!
The museum had a hands on activity center for kids (currently time-limited to 30 minutes due to COVID restrictions) and plenty of exhibits about how weaving looms, steam engines, car parts, car manufacturing, etc etc and so on work. And a big open floor with Toyota models over the ages.
Lunch was the famous "Toyota curry" at the museum shop. Tasty, filling, and reasonably priced. We walked back to Nagoya Station through the Noritake Garden, with a quick stop for me in the Noritake shop and outlet. I wish I had time to actually shop, but maybe better for my pocket book (and my limited Tokyo kitchen storage space) that I didn't.
2pm shinkansen back to Tokyo, and we were home to start laundry and dinner without being too tired.
All in all, a very surprisingly enjoyable excursion - and we probably could have spent another day, had we gone to Nagoya Castle, Atsuta Jingu (shrine), one or both of the other Toyota museums... or even added on LegoLand.
