Nagoya

By the time I got to Nagoya, this was my mini collection of One Piece stuff I amassed. Of course, this grew after I came to Nagoya, especially after conbinis and at the airport!

As my scenic Chubu and Hokuriku journey comes to an end, I find myself reflecting a lot on and thinking a lot about nature, conservation issues and my times spent up in the mountains marveling at the wonders of nature. Yeah I’ve always been a city girl, but I’ve always dreamed of living outside concrete jungles.

So when I walked out of my hotel in the morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a lush green park with many water features~! (Didn’t notice the previous night as I reached late and wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings because I was more focused on shrugging off the creeper^^)

Also glad to find out that it was right across the TV Tower.

If you’re going to be in Nagoya for a day, I suggest you get the 1-day subway pass, which costs 740yen and can be used on all subway lines as many times you want for that particular day ♥ It’s pretty useful if you’re planning to stay within the city/not planning day trips out to Inuyama or etc.

My first stop was Atsuta Jinguu, an over 2000year old shrine housing important historical artifacts. To get there; take the Meijo Subway Line to Jingu-mae. The Meijo Line, a circular loop line with 44 stations, is Nagoya’s equivalent of Tokyo’s Yamanote-sen. It’s free to walk around the premises of Atsuta Jinguu, but you have to pay 300 yen to see the relics.

There’s also a lovely garden and pond in the premises, with benches for you to sit on and ponder on whatever’s on your mind.

I must confess that I kind of got lost. I got out of the station; saw a map board nearby showing the exit, but it did not show entrances to the shrine, just a big shaded area labeled Atsuta Jinguu in the middle. So picked a direction and walked…and walked…and walked till I finally found an entrance. Turns out the entrance near the where I got off was on the other direction, a just a few steps away!

After the shrine, I headed up north to Meijou Kouen Station, to visit…the Sewage Science Hall!

Nagoya is known for its eco-friendly and green efforts, or so that’s the image has always seemed to give me, ever since I first heard of the city in 2005, when it hosted the Aichi World Expo. The city is filled with greenery; even the hotel I stayed in took many green measures~

If you’ve been around various parts of Japan, you’d notice that their manhole covers have designs that differ with cities (like a picture of one in Matsumoto with a temari design in one of my previous posts), and some of them are really pretty! ♥ Some examples are showcased outside the hall.

The hall is actually really small, so after that I headed over to the nearby Meijou Park which is literally a stone’s throw away, across the street! Saw children playing baseball and their families happily watching ♥

After the park, there’s Nagoya Castle, a symbol of the city ♥

I took pictures from the back, as the entrance/front is nearer the other side, near Shiyakusho Station. I didn’t go in, as I just visited Matsumoto Castle yesterday^^

Like Matsumoto Castle, Nagoya Castle is a donjon-style castle. It was ordered to be built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Perhaps I should’ve gone, there’s a limited edition One Piece/Chopper keychain for the castle!

Walked to Shiyakusho Station and took the subway to Osu Kannon temple. The temple was originally located in Osu, a place in the Gifu prefecture, but Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered it to be moved to Nagoya. The temple is really very striking with its bright red beams.

On every 18th and 28th of each month, flea markets are held at the area outside the temple, mostly seniors selling traditional items like clothes, crockery, accessories, religious items etc. And my visit to Nagoya just so happens to be on the 28th. It’s interesting to see what they have up for sale! Other than selling items, I do think it’s a chance for the people selling to gather and enjoy each other’s company (:

Exited to the nearby Osu Kannon Doori Shoutengai/Osu Shopping Arcade, which is basically a covered shopping street area~ Lots of shops catering to all ages groups, selling anything and everything from food, clothes, bags, toys etc. I originally intended to visit Eco Pal Nagoya, where you can see/find out more about stuff regarding environmental issues, but I was exploring the Shopping Arcade, which was in a direction away from Eco Pal.

Random shrine I chanced upon while getting lost^^

Had dinner at a restaurant under the TV Tower, I had to try the misonikomi udon, and it was delicious! A specialty of the Aichi prefecture, Misonikomi udon is udon cooked in a claypot, and uses miso as a base. Udon is my favorite type of noodle~ No pictures as both my batteries died, they always do by the evening! Perhaps I need a third^^

There’s a building near the TV Tower called Oasis21, the roof is covered with water, really pretty!

To end off, I proudly show my “battle scars” from conquering mountains and carrying luggage up and down staircases…which happened frequently because I end up going to the wrong exits, then having to go back down and up again at the correct exit^^ I would recommend visiting nature places in autumn, when leaves change color to provide even more enchanting views~♥

Mwahahaha, soon I shall post the One Piece and cute Chopper keychains I amassed^^

Kamikochi ♥ 上高地

Set off for Kamikouchi, a mountainous highland area of the Chubu Sangaku National Park, located in the Japan Alps. A beautifully pristine and well-preserved place, they do not allow cars into the vicinity, thus the only way to reach there is via bus. Today, I’ll be #aloneinthemountains again^^

You can purchase a round-trip ticket from Matsumoto to Kamikouchi at this machine, it’s blue to help you identify it (the others are green).

The ticket costs 4400yen, and must be used within 6 days, so you can spend a night or two at Kamikouchi. The ticket covers both the train and bus trips.

As with all the other mountainous areas I’ve been to thus far, almost all the other people going were seniors, carrying backpacks and wearing hiking boots. Don’t be fooled by the younger-looking people, this train also passes by a university…where they all got off!

I felt a tad out of place because of my bright pink bag, shorts and (lack of) footwear. As mentioned yesterday, my shoes broke. Rather, they fell apart; the whole thick sole.

Thus, I ended up going with the only other pair of shoes I brought, sandals.


View of a river while on the bus.


First sight of Taishou-ike, where I would start my hike ♥ The pond was formed when an explosion by one of the volcanoes spewed lava that blocked off the runoff path, and thus a pond formed.


Off to the nature trail~


#aloneinthemountains photo#1

The row boats are free for visitors to use, just exercise caution while using them. I would’ve loved to go on it, but I’m #alonginthemountains and never rowed a boat before so…what do you think would’ve happened!

Beautiful view of the pond with low clouds. It was not so cloudy so there was still a reflection on the pond~


Saw a duck!


A bridge in the middle of the forest.


#aloneinthemountains photo#2


The water is actually really clear!


#aloneinthemountains photo#3


The willows on Kamikouchi


A portion of Tashiro Pond.


#aloneinthemountains photo#4


Tashiro-ike, a small pond roughly 30-minutes further up the course from Taishou-ike.


#aloneinthemountains photo#5


Other side of the pond.

After the pond, as you progress along the trail, you can choose to go along the river course or nature course. Of course I chose the river course because I love seeing water features in the mountains.

The river, Azusakawa, along the river course.


The water is so clear! (And also very cold!)



Another bridge~


Toilet in the middle of the mountains~

View of the meander of the river, I really enjoy sights of water features in harmony with greenery and mountains! They make beautiful scenery.

I love this picture ♥


#aloneinthemountains photo#6, love the backdrop! ♥


Valley and low clouds


#aloneinthemountains photo#7





Bus terminal at Kamikouchi.

At the souvenir store at the Kamikouchi Bus Terminal, they sell different boxes of “special Kamikouchi” goodies. But actually, I saw the exact same special goodies at the Kurobe Dam store and Matsumoto Castle store, with the exact same packaging and contents, just that the name was different…And of course I’ll always make a beeline for the keychains section to see if there are any One Piece/Chopper keychains. Sadly there’s no Kamikouchi LE version, just the Shinshuu one, which I already bought at Tateyama :D The Shinshuu region is famous for its apples, so there are a lot of apple-flavored versions of products specially available only in the region, like apple KitKat.

I kind of fell asleep on the bus back, but woke up to catch the sights of winding river.


Also saw one of the dams. There was no discharge though, so the sight of the Kurobe Dam wins hands down!

Took the Kamikouchi line from Shin-shimashima back to Matsumoto, and explored shops in the station for a while before heading to the bus terminal.

Rode a bus from Matsumoto to Nagoya, a pretty comfortable ride; there were less than 10 people on the entire bus. And because it was a rather late bus, they had designated female-only seats. I arrived in Nagoya at around 11pm, took the subway to the downtown area of Sakae where my hotel was. Both stations were packed with salarymen and OLs waiting to go home.

Oh, the arduous task of lugging of luggage up and down stairs! And the horror being approached by creepy people who “want to be your friend”. Female travelers going solo, do take caution when being out late at night!