While I was in Nagoya two weeks ago eating aesthetic food and seeing the sakura blossoms, my friends showed me around two amazing places I never knew existed. One was Shiratori Park which is one of the best places in Nagoya to see the cherry blossoms in the spring, and the other was Osu Kannon which is a complex of shrines and a unique shopping center full of everything from traditional Japanese food to arcades and tapioca.
In this article I will be sharing my adventures in both places with you. For other fun things to do in Nagoya, check out my Amusement Parks articles~ As I always say, Nagoya is one of the most underrated cities in Japan because there is so much you can do here!
Shiratori Park
Shiratori Park is hands down my favorite Japanese-style garden in Nagoya. It has a mini waterfall pond that you can cross over with stone steps, a small but beautiful garden of bamboo, and gorgeous sakura trees planted all throughout the park. The pond looks completely aesthetic when the pink petals fall naturally in the water. There is a school of koi fish that dwell inside the pond. We listened to nujabes while we watched children feed them for a complete Modal Soul experience. You could easily spend two hours or more here just relaxing because it’s not nearly as crowded as the parks in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto. There are also tea ceremonies that are periodically held here. This place cannot be skip if you visit Nagoya, period.
Access
1-20 Atsuta Nishimachi, Atsuta Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 456-0036
Admission Fee: 300 yen
Osu Kannon
The Temple of Osu Kannon is (unbeknownst to me) one of the most popular Buddhist temples in Nagoya, but in addition to that there’s a flea market on certain weekends and tons of interesting shops you can see. They have everything from ceramic plates to replicas of old guns for sale outside of the temple during the flea market which really amazed me. We walked by a lot of vintage clothes stores and food stalls as well. My favorite place I came across was a flower store called PEU CONNU. They have a vintage approach to their flower displays that I enjoyed seeing. We also saw mini shrines with fox deities along the way there.
After investigating the flea market and flowers, we decided to head to the anime / gaming district of Osu. The super potato there was maybe the best gaming store in Japan I had ever walked in to. On the left was the “gamer fuel” section full of chocolates, energy drinks, and imported sweets (some were in English), and on the left were a selection of classic cartridges (all Japanese). Everything from the Famicom era until now. A true gamer experience:
The upstairs had a shrine devoted to Kirby (my boyfriend kindly bought me a Waddle Dee), and also a picture of Isabelle fishing up a Luigi. Nice.
Some other great imagery I saw around this area was a picture of Darth Vader saying “BAZINGA” and a shirt of the crocodile that will die after 100 days (though his death still remains ambiguous in the Japanese webcomic).
The things that you find in these Buddhist shrine complexes is truly mindblowing. There are a couple of places that have short shows you can see on the weekends. I am planning another trip to Nagoya very soon and am excited for the other things that I will discover!
Access
1-20 Atsuta Nishimachi, Atsuta Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 456-0036
(No Admission Fee)
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