Nagoya

Nagoya is famous for its rich, unique regional cuisine known as Nagoya Meshi. The standout dish is miso katsu, which features a deep-fried pork cutlet generously topped with a savory red miso sauce. Other local specialties include hitsumabushi (grilled eel on rice) and tenmusu (shrimp tempura wrapped in rice balls).

Nagoya Castle is a historic landmark, but its main keep was tragically destroyed by air raids during World War II. The current ferro-concrete main keep was rebuilt in 1959 and served as a modern museum for decades. Currently, the city is in the process of meticulously reconstructing the adjacent Hommaru Palace using traditional wooden construction techniques.

Located in central Honshu, Nagoya serves as the bustling capital of Aichi Prefecture and is the heart of Japan's automotive industry. It is the hometown of major global corporations, most notably Toyota, which has massive manufacturing plants in the surrounding area. Because of its massive port and industrial output, the city is a massive economic engine for the country.

Traveling from Tokyo to Nagoya is incredibly fast and efficient thanks to the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train. The Nozomi train, which is the fastest service on this line, completes the journey in roughly one hour and forty minutes. Alternatively, you can fly between the cities, but the train is generally much more convenient when factoring in airport transit times.