I have made a point of asking my students for travel recommendations for Nagoya and Japan in general. One site that repeatedly comes up is Nagoya Castle. Virtually every major city in Japan has one or more casltes, Nagoya is no different, except for the fact that the castle here is mostly a reconstruction (as the original was destroyed during air raids in WW2....damn yankees).

I had been planning on checking the castle out for some time, so on my next available day off, I saddled up the Red Rocket and headed out. The castle is about a 30 minute bike ride from my house, so I got to see a fair bit of the city on my way over. The castle is on the outskirts of town, right next to City Hall. It is surrounded by a very large, and rather impressive Japanese garden. As for the castle itself, everything above the stone base is a reconstruction...including the large elevator that runs up the size, and gift shop on the top floor. Sadly, these and other things work to cheapen the atmosphere, so to speak. Even so, the building is pretty cool, and the trip well worth the Y500 admission.