Nagoya, the fourth most populous city in Japan, charmed me the moment I stepped out in a drizzle, bag in tow, from Nagoya Station where I took the Shinkansen from Osaka Shin Station.
Skyscrapers sparkled around me in the rain as I walked to our hotel, and yet its streets still gave off an old-world charm in the shophouses that dot the sidewalks.
Famous for having Japan’s largest seaport, it is more sedate than the bustling cities of Tokyo and Osaka and yet it is a place that is quite content in revealing itself slowly — making one curious about what you may discover next.
We spent most of the next morning learning about Arimatsu Shibori, a 400-year-old Japanese tie-dye technique, at the workshop of Hiroaki Kuno. This fifth generation artisan is probably one of the most cheerful men I have ever met and is also very humble. His work has found its way into the world’s famous runways and is featured in many fashion magazines; yet he shares these stories with the same level of enthusiasm as his collaboration with Uniqlo, using the same materials cut off from the pants bought by customers.
Nagoya Castle, Japan’s first castle to be designated as a National Treasure, is also worth a closer look. The details in the rooms of Hommaru Palace are so well restored that each room’s styling is symbolic of its place in this ancient household. From the art in the walls to the carvings in the ceilings, the deeper you went into the halls of the Palace, the more elaborate the rooms became.
A short drive from the center of Nagoya, in Toyota City, is the Toyota Automobile Museum — a car lover’s dream destination. Having grown up in a city where most families had a Toyota car at least once in their lifetime, the time I spent wandering around brought a smile to my face. Toyoda, now Toyota, remains a reliable brand, and as its style evolves with the changing tides, I wonder how huge this museum will be in a hundred years.