[Nagoya Shopping Guide] Enjoy a Nagoya-Style Shopping Experience at a Variety of Unique Spots

The area around JR Nagoya Station, a starting point for sightseeing in Nagoya, is an urban district dotted with large commercial facilities and surrounded by office buildings.
Another of its key features is its vast underground shopping area. It is nice to be able to enjoy shopping regardless of the weather.
Since shops are concentrated inside commercial facilities and underground malls, this is a recommended area when you want to enjoy shopping at a variety of stores in a short amount of time.

Located in Naka Ward, Nagoya City, Sakae is Nagoya’s largest downtown district.
In addition to commercial facilities, the area is also dotted with exciting sightseeing spots such as art museums and a science museum.
The area has been developed around a large urban park, and the surrounding streets are lined with places where you can enjoy shopping and dining.
There are many fashion-related shops here, ranging from major commercial facilities to smaller stores.
For young people, it has become a hub of the latest trends, where they can enjoy fashionable items and food.

Nagoya’s largest shopping district, spreading across the area enclosed by four streets: Wakamiya Odori, Fushimi-dori, Osu-dori, and Minami-Otsu-dori.
About 1,200 shops and facilities of every genre imaginable are packed together here, including restaurants, vintage clothing stores, variety shops, and electronics stores, creating a distinctive atmosphere.
Today, the area is also filled with shops selling trendy food, and it is bustling with young people enjoying street food.

A multi-level park with the giant glass roof known as the “Water Spaceship” as its symbol.
The complex also has a bus terminal and serves as a transportation hub with direct connections to the subway and Meitetsu lines.
In recent years, its photogenic illuminations, which make the nights in Sakae, central Nagoya, look even more vibrant, have become a hot topic. Different seasonal illuminations are held every day.

A mixed-use tower rising in front of Nagoya Station. At 247 meters tall, it is the tallest building in the Tokai region.
The commercial tower is lined with boutiques of high-end international brands, luxury restaurants, and cafes, and also includes a cinema complex and a gallery where visitors can experience the appeal of Lexus cars.
From the outdoor observation deck “Sky Promenade” on the 44th to 46th floors of the office tower, you can enjoy an almost 360-degree panoramic view of Nagoya.

A building directly connected to a terminal station, made up of two towers over 200 meters tall.
It houses the department store JR Nagoya Takashimaya, Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, a restaurant floor, offices, and more.
JR Nagoya Takashimaya consists of 13 floors, from the second basement level to the 11th floor.
It brings together famous sweets shops from all over Japan, and long lines are common.

A distinctive building along Nishiki-dori, one of Nagoya’s main streets, known for the Ferris wheel built into its exterior wall.
It also houses cafes that host collaboration events with Japanese subculture content such as anime, manga, and games. In addition, it features fast-food restaurants, self-service cafes, amusement facilities, and more, making it a lively building packed with entertainment.

The birthplace of Noritake, the Western tableware brand highly acclaimed around the world.
Today, it has been developed into a lush, relaxing space, with shops, cafes, restaurants, and a museum scattered throughout the grounds.
The red brick building constructed in 1904 was the first factory of Nippon Toki Kaisha, Ltd. (now Noritake Co., Limited).

A mixed-use complex next to a terminal station served by JR, Meitetsu, and the subway, with apparel shops, restaurants, and more.
With many popular sweets shops and fashion stores, it is always full of energy.
Events such as live performances are held regularly on the central stage, making it a hub for culture as well.

Founded in 1873 in the town in front of Atsuta Jingu Shrine, this is the birthplace of hitsumabushi, Nagoya’s famous eel dish.
Hitsumabushi is a dish in which grilled eel is finely chopped and placed over rice served in a container called an “ohitsu,” and the term is a registered trademark of Atsuta Horaiken.
Fresh eel is grilled over binchotan charcoal so that the skin turns crisp while the meat stays plump and tender.

A long-established restaurant serving Nagoya’s specialty miso nikomi udon, made by simmering noodles in a broth based on soybean miso.
It blends Kakukyu Hatcho Miso from Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, with white miso, then combines it with a clear broth made from kombu, bonito flakes, and shiitake mushrooms.
The noodles contain no salt at all, and are known for their firm, chewy texture.

A famous restaurant serving Nagoya’s specialty miso katsu, founded in 1947.
The tonkatsu is generously covered with a sauce made from naturally brewed soybean miso from Aichi Prefecture that has been aged for a year and a half.
The pork is high-quality meat from southern Kyushu, known for being tender and slightly sweet.
Its most popular menu item is the “Waraji Tonkatsu,” which measures Approx. 22 cm.

One of Japan’s largest castles, built in the early Edo period by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Edo shogunate. At the top of the castle tower with its five-tiered roof shine two golden shachihoko, one male and one female, which have become a symbol of Nagoya. Inside, the spaces are beautifully decorated with sliding door and wall paintings by the Kano school, a group of painters active from the Muromachi period to the Edo period. In 1634, the most lavish and magnificent part, Jorakuden, was added, and it also served as lodging for the shogun on the way to Kyoto.

It is said to have begun about 1,900 years ago, when Kusanagi no Tsurugi, one of the Three Sacred Treasures (the three treasures bestowed by Amaterasu Omikami in Japanese mythology,
and passed down as symbols of the emperor’s throne), was enshrined here.
It is also known for having been deeply revered by warlords of the Sengoku period, including Oda Nobunaga, who visited to pray for victory before the Battle of Okehazama.
Another highlight is the treasure hall, which houses many valuable cultural properties and materials.

A temple that serves as a special head temple of the Chizan school of Shingon Buddhism, with the formal name Kitano-san Shinpukuji Hoshoin.
Along with Sensoji Temple in Tokyo and Tsu Kannon in Mie, it is counted as one of Japan’s three great Kannon temples.
Many events are held throughout the year, including the Takarabune Parade and the Fukunokami Oni-oi ritual, which has continued since the Muromachi period, on Setsubun on February 3.
On the temple fair days held on the 18th and 28th of every month, an antique market is held and the area becomes especially lively.