In major Japanese cities, urban life isn’t just about what we see on the ground. The undergrounds and the sky-high buildings are just as happening.
Japan isn’t the only place in the world where the urban environments are characterized by well-utilized underground space and eye-catching skyscrapers. Still, I find many Japanese underground passages and high-rises interesting and I think we can’t talk about big Japanese cities without mentioning them.
To explore some aspects of these Japanese urban environments, come with me to Nagoya Station, locally known as Meieki. There is much to discover under, inside, around, and above this biggest train station complex in the world.
There is a reason why I want to start with photos of underground views. Nagoya has an extensive subway system all over the city and the most important stop of all is Nagoya Station, the city’s transportation hub that is also served by Shinkansen high-speed railway, local train, and bus lines. Many people in Nagoya start their easy journey to the city center by taking the subway from their neighborhoods to Meieki. Same for me while I lived there. Being a business and entertainment district, the subway exits of Nagoya Station are conveniently connected to some of the Nagoya’s biggest office buildings and department stores by underground passages lined with shops, restaurants, and cafes. So it might not be a stretch to say that the underground arcade is the first view many people see when going to the city center.
Take for example this underground passage called Dinard. It creates easy access to Dai Nagoya Building across the street from Nagoya Station. (Due to the amount of photos I have collected from several trips to Nagoya Station area for three years, I will save my guides to eating and shopping in Nagoya Station area for another time.)
The most interesting underground passage in Japan for me is also in Nagoya Station area. Lucent Avenue, which is Meieki’s underground link to Nagoya Lucent Tower, doesn’t have any restaurant or shop, but it is adorned with creative illumination series called A Tale of Stray Kittens. The 290-meter long public art is divided into multiple sections by different environment concepts illuminated by different colored lights. Let me share some of my favorites.
It must be cool to walk under a monster on your way to work every day.
Aquarium feels.
Eternal sunset in the Oasis section.
Nagoya Lucent Tower itself is pretty cool too. The underground floor is installed with these blinking, color-changing light panels. The light panel area isn’t that big, but the mirror wall makes the area look bigger.
Time to go up to the ground level. I like how this Nagoya Station entrance looks in the morning light.
Nagoya Station has Sakura-dori (East) and Taiko-dori (West) Entrances/Exits. The Sakura-dori side concourse is a popular meeting point with the Gold Clock and iconic four escalators while the meeting spot of Taiko-dori side is marked by the Silver Clock. On one of my trips outside Nagoya with my friends, we agreed to meet up early in the morning in the Sakura-dori side concourse. It is almost always crowded there, but weekend mornings are the exception. Since 2020, the escalators are decorated with seasonal faux flowers.
I took this photo while waiting for a friend in front of the Gold Clock during a busier hour in 2019, hence no flowers back then.
Also on the Sakura-dori side is a complex with Nagoya’s bus hub aka Meitetsu Bus Center, the terminal Meitetsu train station or Meitetsu Nagoya Station, and Meitetsu Department Store. I went to Meitetsu Nagoya Station and Meitetsu Bus Center a lot, but I used the underground passage most of the times, so I rarely got to see Nagoya’s fashion icon in front of the complex.
Standing 6.10 meters tall, Nana-chan Doll has been the ambassador of Meitetsu Department Store since 1973. Apart from advertising special sales, seasonal festivals, events, and fashion trends to passersby, the mannequin occasionally promotes movies and anime by cosplaying as the main characters and participates in social campaigns. It is a pity I never caught Nana-chan during her anime cosplay moments, but here is her picture during a road safety campaign. There is even an archive of Nana-chan Mannequin’s previous costumes. If you are interested, you can check it out here.
KITTE Nagoya is home to Nagoya Central Post Office and some more shops and restaurants. Occasionally, KITTE Nagoya displays public art for visitors like these lanterns with traditional Japanese patterns.
Across the street from Meieki’s Sakura-dori Exit are Nagoya’s highest and most iconic buildings. Reaching 247 meters, Midland Square (also called Toyota-Mainichi Building) is Nagoya’s tallest building and also home to the open-air observation deck called Sky Promenade. I have never been up there though.
Dai Nagoya Building, an office building with a lot of restaurants.
Not far from Dai Nagoya Building and Midland Square is the most unique modern building in Nagoya in my opinion, Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers. It houses three vocational schools including Nagoya Mode Gakuen, which is among the three largest specialized training colleges in Japan alongside Tokyo Mode Gakuen and Osaka Mode Gakuen.
Meieki area stays busy into the night.
Let’s move onto the western side of Nagoya Station or the Taiko-dori side. From across Taiko-dori Exit, we can still see the skyscrapers on the Sakura-dori side.
One of the two JR Central Towers with the day moon.
Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers and the clouds.
While Nagoya Station’s eastern side boasts many office high-rises, higher-end hotels, and bustling shopping malls, the western side feels more down-to-earth but no less lively. There are still a lot of restaurants and shops, including a huge Bic Camera store where everyone can enjoy tax-free shopping experience of various Japanese goods from food, toys, video games, bags, toiletries and beauty products, electrical appliances, cameras, and even have films developed. The last one was why I frequented and got to explore Nagoya Station area better while waiting for my photos.
Personally speaking, I like the Taiko-dori side more than the Sakura-dori side overall. The facades of some local shops and restaurants on the Taiko-dori side are pretty photogenic.
Because Taiko-dori is the western side, it is also a good spot to see the sunset.
As well as offering a good rainy night view when it doesn’t rain too heavily.
One of the things I really enjoyed in Japan was the country’s huge variety of convenient stores. Bangkok and some other cities in Thailand have ubiquitous convenient stores that are open for 24/7 like in Japan, but we are lacking in variety. And we don’t have any Ministop. I miss Ministop tempura rice bowl, seafood rice bowl, and soft ice cream so much.
This red clock grabbed my attention every time I went to the Taiko-dori side at night.
Lastly, we will enjoy some views of Meieki area from above.
Thanks to its location opposite Nagoya Station, Dai Nagoya Building Sky Garden lets visitors get a good look at the twin JR Central Towers for free. Rising 245 meters on top of Nagoya Station building, JR Central Towers are the city’s second tallest building and the world’s tallest railway station building.
The beauty of Sky Garden changes seasonally. A bunch of artificial flowers and other decorations are added among the real bushes and trees in the garden.
I was going to visit a sunflower field near Nagoya during my last August in Japan, but the timing didn’t work out. At least, I got to see the Sunflower Sky Garden Festival at Dai Nagoya Building, which lasted until September.
Naturally, I will wrap up this post of Nagoya’s urban environments with the city’s skyline.
Although the best view can be seen from Midland Square Sky Promenade that I mentioned earlier, I stumbled upon a small viewpoint at JR Nagoya Takashimaya Department Store. I can’t remember what floor it was (I am sorry!) and it was a just glass window instead of a proper observatory. However, it is free of charge and we can get a pretty nice view of Nagoya Station’s Sakura-dori side with the Japan Alps and Suzuka Mountains in the background.
Snow on the mountains looking pretty thick still in spring. I wonder how Nagoya skyline would look like at night. I am sad I discovered this window too late. Just a few days after that, I got so busy with moving back to Thailand that I never got to visit JR Nagoya Takashimaya Department Store again, let alone traveling for leisure.
I saw that Japan is considering reopening the borders for international tourists without the need to join group tours this time. If they will fully reopen for real, for those who want to travel to Japan soon, please keep your eye out for more official updates in a few days from now.
Guide
Nagoya Station
When to visit: Accessible for as long as the train and subway lines run. Usually from around 5.30am to slightly after midnight.
How to get there: Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains from Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka will be the fastest way to reach Nagoya. Nagoya is located between Tokyo and Kyoto. There are several JR local trains (Tokaido Main Line, Chuo Main Line, and Kansai Main Line), Meitetsu trains from other cities in Aichi Prefecture, as well as Kintetsu limited express and local trains from other cities in Aichi Prefecture and Kansai region (Osaka and Nara areas).
If you are already in Nagoya, Higashiyama Subway Line, Sakuradori Subway Line, and Aonami Train Line are your best choices depending on where you are.
Nagoya Lucent Tower and Lucent Avenue
When to visit: 7am-11pm, daily
How to get there: Walk for about five minutes from Nagoya Station.
Nana-chan Doll
When to visit: Always accessible
How to get there: Walk for about five minutes from Nagoya Station. Located in front of Meitetsu Department Store, Meitetsu Bus Center, and Meitetsu Nagoya Station complex.
Nagoya KITTE Building
When to visit: 10am-11pm, daily
How to get there: Connected to Nagoya Station building.
Dai Nagoya Building
When to visit: 11am-11pm, daily
How to get there: Located across the street from Nagoya Station
Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers
When to visit: Always viewable from the outside.
How to get there: Walk for about three minutes from Nagoya Station.
JR Nagoya Takashimaya Department Store
When to visit: 10am-8pm, daily
How to get there: Connected to Nagoya Station.
This post is also part of the Lens-Artists (week #216: Urban Environments), Flower of the Day (recent challenge), One Word Sunday (High), Photographing Public Art Challenge (recent challenge), Thursday Doors (recent challenge), and Which Way (recent challenge) Photo Challenges.
This is so cool! Thank you for taking us around Nagoya! I went to Japan many years ago but I did not go to Nagoya. Maybe that will be in my return trip.
LikeLike
Thank you very much for visiting and comment, Julie. I hope you can return to Japan when it reopens and explore even more.
LikeLike
We were in Nagoya for one day only and your post just showed me how much we missed! I really like your photos, Gift and the amount of information is truly amazing. Thank you for sharing your experiences in Japan.
LikeLike
Thank you very much, Sofia. Your theme let me compile my Nagoya Station area photos and I had a lot of fun reflecting on and categorizing them. I’m really glad you enjoyed the photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow!
This is truly wonderful. The underground sceneries are certainly out-of-this-world, at least for me because I’m seeing them for the first time.
And those sky scrappers! What’s not to love about them. Wonderfully captured by you 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Hammad. The underground sceneries made me feel the same when I first saw them, haha. Kudos to the team of artists behind them.
LikeLike
A perfect challenge for you Gift, and a wonderful response featuring a place many of us will never see first-hand. I especially liked the lanterns and the illuminated art.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for your kind words, Tina. The illuminations are among my personal favorites as well.
LikeLike
GREAT photos. Excellent.
LikeLike
Your comment somehow got to my spam box, so I’m very sorry I only got to approve it now. Thank you very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I probably deserved it. 😂
LikeLike
This is such a great post, Gift. I love the photography! Very impressive architecture. Sorry I’m late getting here.
LikeLike
Thank you very much, Dan. Glad you enjoyed. I’m usually late at keeping up with updates, so please feel free to visit comfortably when you are available!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gift this is a wonderful gift of color and beauty to all of us. I loved the tunnel art. Your photos of buildings were fantastic, too. I find tall buildings hard to photograph, but you did it brilliantly. Thanks so much for linking to PPAC. Your photos make me want to travel to Japan. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you so much, Marsha. I also enjoyed the colors of many of these photos, so I’m glad you pointed the colors out! I find tall buildings hard to photograph too, but I was lucky to visit the area and try taking many shots. The good weather and lighting certainly helped make the photos look more satisfactory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad you shared them through the link so I didn’t miss it. You write amazing posts about places I’ve never seen, so it’s a real education. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for always sharing your kind words with me, Marsha. So happy you could experience Japan through the post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, Gift. 🤗🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] SPACE STORIES BY GIFT – AN AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO NAGOYA, JAPAN […]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such an amazing place. Thank you for sharing.
LikeLike
Thank you very much for visiting as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing, Gift! What gorgeous photos and my favourites are the underground ones. So colourful and artistic. I’d love to visit Japan because of its old history and its traditions. Now I have even more reasons to go!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such an honor to hear the photos made you feel even more interested in Japan! So much history and traditions indeed, and more contrasts as well as nature, which I’m sure you will enjoy. Thank you very much again for visiting this post.
LikeLike
Thank you for posting!
LikeLike
I really enjoyed this look at Nagoya, a city I never visited 🙂 The subway art is fabulous and I love the architecture of the Spiral Towers ! Also, your rainy night photo is especially atmospheric and it’s lovely to see the mountains beyond the city. Great post!
LikeLike
Thank you very much, Sarah. We definitely share all favorite photos here. I was especially tempted to use the rainy night photo as the opening image, but I thought I should first highlight the sky or underground view for this theme, haha. Your blog is literally a treasure trove of travel writings and photos and I’m awed by how much you have seen and experienced. When my work life slows down a bit more, I’d have a field day reading your travel archive for inspirations!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such cool photos!
LikeLike
Thanks, San!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful photos and beautiful city! It’s so clean and the air looks clear. Our subways don’t look like that. 😆 My daughter would love the sunflowers. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Thanks so much. I really appreciated the cleanliness and the air in Nagoya. Japanese air is overall good, even in big cities. I hope you can go to Nagoya with your family one day.
There is a real sunflower field near Nagoya too. It’s called Aichi Farm (which I unfortunately didn’t get to visit due to bad timing, haha). But if you have limited time, the artificial sunflower garden on Dai Nagoya Building is still nice and I’m sure your daughter will enjoy the photo opportunities.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds peaceful. I hope to see it someday! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s often hard to decide which photo to feature, isn’t it?! Thank you for the follow 😃 I plan to explore more of your blog soon too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much again for your kind words, Sarah. I’m currently mostly posting about Japan, but I do hope to go back to sharing more about the few countries that I have visited one day. Regardless, I hope you will still enjoy the posts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m very happy to read about Japan. I loved my short visit there and am always interested to get ideas for a possible return visit one of these days!
LikeLike
I’m sorry for terribly late replies and comments since I tend to have time to check the blog once or twice a week. Thank you again for your kind words. I hope you can return to this great country in the near future!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s not a problem – we all have lives as well as blogs!
LikeLike
Hi Gift
What a great post
loved the buildings and underground
Also – the “illumination series called A Tale of Stray Kittens” is cool
And looks like they have a great use of artificial and real Elemts in the sky garden
LikeLike
Thank you very much, Yvette. This illumination is definitely one of my most favorite things in Nagoya and props to many Japanese artists for trying to harmonize their creations with the natural or the existing things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike