On day 9 of our 12 days of Japan Travels, we finally got the chance to visit Nagoya Castle, ate more delicacies and took an overnight bus ride from Nagoya back to Tokyo. This morning, we started the day with our favourite melon pan (128 yen) and coffee (90 yen) together with the baumkuchen we bought from Takayama. Thereafter, we took bus 14 near Montblanc Hotel Nagoya to Nagoya Castle…
The tickets for Nagoya Castle costs only 500 yen per person. We thought that the entrance fee to Nagoya Castle is actually quite cheap given that it includes performances such as samurai, assassin and ninja acts. This is in addition to the palace gardens, Honmaru Palace and the Castle Tower. All for just 500 yen!
Once we entered the premise, there was a bonsai exhibition on display…
Bonsai are actually miniature trees that are stunted in their growth. From the beauty of these bonsai, it can be seen that alot of effort has been placed into the pruning and beautification process. There was also a rock on which the statue General Kato Kiyomasa stood upon. It was said that it was upon that rock General Kato gaves his instructions on how the castle ought to be built. “Upon this rock” reminds us of Peter in Matthew 16:18 🙂
We then headed to Ninomaru square where performances are held. Unfortunately, it started to rain and we were unable to capture nice photos of the performance. Nonetheless, it was funny and entertaining. Do check out the performances while you’re here!
Besides the Samurai performance, we also heard some singing performances which…were really sub-par performances. One of the lady singers actually zhao sia (Singlish for sang out of tune) and strained to reach a high note. That prompted the now famous quote from Kate, “If they’re so good, they won’t be singing at Nagoya Castle right?“. Before arriving at the Castle Tower, we passed through the Honmaru Palace and saw some really beautiful decorations within…
The other highlight of Nagoya Castle is the Castle Tower.
On the way up, there were many exhibits about the history of Nagoya Castle as well as how the reconstruction efforts after world war 2 took place. The Nagoya Castle that we see today is actually a reconstruction that was completed in the 1959.
We enjoyed an interactive exhibit that measured the strength of pulling a stone using a rope. This is to give visitors a feeling of how tough it was to move each and every stone to Nagoya Castle for its construction. After climbing up to the observation deck at level 7, we got to enjoy these amazing views of the surrounding area.
We also took an opportunity to try out a local “grilled” mochi…
After our visit to Nagoya Castle, we took a train ride from City Hall station to Sakae station for 200 yen. We headed to Sakae station to eat Okonomiyaki/Monjayaki at Rikyu!
The set meal at Rikyu Okonomiyaki/Monjayaki costs 960 yen which includes the mains of okonomiyaki/monjayaki/yakisoba, miso soup and ebi sushi. For an additional 300 yen, you’ll get a drink, salad and dessert as well. We wanted to order the DIY okonomiyaki but did not realise that we had to order “monjayaki”. Instead, the ready-made okonomiyaki and yakisoba were delivered to our table. Do not repeat out mistake. Also, we observed several tables ordering just the monjayaki for 2 to share, something that you can consider if you’re not too peckish that day.
After the meal, we were SO FULL! We headed to our (by-now) favourite shopping mall Don Quijote and found Kit Kat to be cheaper than what we bought from Takayama. They also have lots of flavours such as hojicha, apple, rum & raisin, sake and red bean! Next, we visited Daiso at Nagoya Sakae Skyle Level 7 where Kate bought LOADS of My Melody products at 100 yen each! If you’re interested in having all-you-drink alcoholic buffets in Nagoya (also known as nomihodai), you can check out the roof top bar, Beer Garden Miami at the top of Nagoya Mitsukoshi. For 3500 yen, finger foods are included as well. We didn’t try it this time due to the heavy lunch that we had. Instead, we shared a ramen and gyoza (1170 yen) plus additional noodles (kadaema) at Ichibanken (一番轩), located at B1 of Isetan Haus near Nagoya Station…
As we were slated to depart for Tokyo this evening, we headed back to Nagoya Ekimae Montblanc Hotel to rest for 2 hours before heading over to the fountain at Nagoya JR station at 10pm. Once there, we did not understand the instructions given by the conductors and waited patiently. We also observed that there was another departure at 10:15pm before our departure at 10:30pm. At 10:17pm (2 minutes after the previous departure at 10:15pm), people started leaving the waiting point and we followed them along. After a 5 minutes walk in the light drizzle, we arrived at a bus stop where 4 buses were waiting. Turns out that there were several companies departing at the same time for the same destination. Make sure you join the correct line as the staff shouts out the names of the various bus lines (ours was Willer Express). We were also able to drop off 3 pieces of luggage eventhough instructions were only for 1 piece per passenger. At the end of this “ordeal”, the buses departed punctually at 10:30pm.
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We arrived at Tokyo at 6:30am the next morning. Stay tuned for our next post as we discover more delicacies and attractions in Tokyo Japan!
Related Post
If you have just completed a post from our 12 days of travels in Japan. Find out more about this trip to Japan in the following posts below.
15 Travel Experiences and Things to do in Tokyo Japan!
Top 9 Things to do in Mount Fuji and Kawaguchiko Area!
Top 5 Things to do in Hida Takayama (高山)!
Top 6 Things to do in Nagoya (and food to eat)!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Tokyo Jimbocho and Imperial Palace Gardens Day 1
12 Days of Japan Travels: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Shinjuku Pablo and Shibuya Day 2
12 Days of Japan Travels: Mount Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi, Sanrokuen and Fujizakura Inn Reviews Day 3
12 Days of Japan Travels: Lake Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center & Sightseeing Bus Tour Day 4
Konansou Mount Fuji Hotel Review (湖南庄) : In-Room Onsen and Meals with views of Mount Fuji!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Lake Saiko Wind Cave, Ide Brewery Mount Fuji and Bus Ride to Takayama Day 5
12 Days of Japan Travels: Takayama Morning Markets Jinya-Mae, Miyagawa and Takayama Hidagyu Day 6
12 Days of Japan Travels: Takayama Hidagyu (Hida Beef) and Bus Ride to Nagoya Day 7
Takayama Hidagyu Beef: All You Need To Know!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Eating our way through Nagoya Day 8
12 Days of Japan Travels: Visit Nagoya Castle and Overnight Bus Ride from Nagoya to Tokyo Day 9
12 Days of Japan Travels: Ichiran Ramen & Kamiya Pub Reviews Day 10
12 days of Japan Travels: Tsukiji Fish Market, Ippudo Ramen & Akihabara Tokyo Day 11
12 days of Japan Travels: Ueno Zoo, Ameyoko Shopping Street & Giga Butadon Day 12
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