Exploring Nagoya

Pedestrian shopping areas Nagoya has been a pleasant surprise for us. We had a very hot but good ride from the ferry. We arrived at our hotel in good time and were pleased by its location and the staff's flexibility in finding a secure place to store our trikes. Being on a busy street in the town centre, there was no obvious place for them, so they ushered us to a narrow locked gate at the side of the building and we were given a space at the back of the hotel. The staff were awesome.
We decided to get out a for a walk and explore as much as we can before the rain comes tomorrow. Barry read about the historic area which sounds interesting and is close to our hotel. It will be ideal for walking, so we’ll start there. Having been sick on our previous visit, we are eager to explore as much as we can.

The river running through the centre of Nagoya has many cafes and places to cool down in the heat of the city.

Japan is a sports loving nation…sumo wrestling, baseball, soccer, karate.

Lion dogs are the guardians of the shrine.

The historic area is known as the Skikemichi Historic Townscape Conservation District. At one time, the seat of the government was located in a town called Kiyosu, about 7 km northwest of Nagoya. With the construction of Nagoya Castle in 1610, the surrounding Castle Town was also built. Every house, Samurai and town folk alike, Temple, Shrine and even the neighbourhood names, were moved to this new town of Nagoya. This abrupt migration was called The Kiyosu-Goshi.

This district was built for merchants. They traded in rice, salt, miso, sake, firewood and charcoal using the Horikawa River to transport their goods and produce. The present area with its rows of old fashioned warehouses dates back to around 1740. In order to preserve this important part of the city’s heritage, Nagoya designated the area as a Historic Conservation District in 1986.

This map shows the layout of the historic area.

It was very interesting to walk the narrow lanes and roads of this historic district.

A typical entryway with flowers and a raccoon dog.

I think we disturbed this fellow from his nap.

This handsome sturdy fellow is moving on….sorry big guy!

Liked this restaurant sign….lots of cats here.

This small lane had many small restaurants and cafes.

We were surprised to see these fellows approaching us. They are from a Kabuki Theatre nearby and they walk through the historic district in full dress, banging their drums, calling out and singing. Very impressive.

We followed them and outside the theatre they gave a free performance of one of their plays. What good timing for us to be here for this.

Kabuki Theatre combines singing, dancing and acting in a highly stylized manner. It is known for its elaborate costumes, dramatic makeup and dynamic performances. Integrated into a performance is much humour and embellishment which the gathered crowd loved. Kabuki has been a major theatrical forum in Japan for 4 centuries.

It’s all in the facial expressions, the costumes and the dramatic behaviour of the players.

During performances it is not unusual for audience members to shout and cheer for their favourite actor or character. It was a dynamic interactive experience which we loved even though we didn’t understand everything that was being said. A woman beside me would fill me in when something really funny happened. Performers sometimes address the spectators directly.

We really enjoyed the performance. To be so close to the actors in this informal setting gave us a wonderful appreciation of Kabuki. A play can last for four hours in a traditional Kabuki Theatre.