5 days in Kansai and 2 days in Nagoya

Hi everyone,

I have 6 to 7 days in the two regions- Kansai and Nagoya, and my tentative plan is :

2 days in Osaka;
2 days in Kyoto;
1 day in Nara;
2 days in Nagoya.

As Kobe of Keihanshin is left out, would it be better to spare one day from Osaka for Kobe?

Besides, my interest for Nagoya is largely based on its relationship with many historical figures, like Oda Obunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Nagoya has several spots about them (Tokugawa Art Museum, Nakamura park,Tōgan-ji etc.) However, Nagoya seems to be an unpopular place compared to Kansai and Tokyo, so I wonder whether it would be worth the visit. Should I drop it in exchange for a day in Kobe and/or a third day in Kyoto?

I also appreciate it if you advise other new ideas. My travelling time is Late July and Tokyo, as visited in another trip, is not considered as an option.

Thank you.

Do you mean Oda Nobunaga? That chap perished in Kyoto. You can visit the temple where it happened. It is next to/along a shopping district.

Days allocated are fine. You don't really have many days to play around with so it wouldn't make too much of a difference. Though, I wouldnt spend so much time in Nagoya. It was pretty much leveled by carpet bombing. There is not much remaining in the historical sense.

Hi Joshua,

Nice advice. I think you mean Honno-ji in Kyoto, and yes, it's definitely in my itinerary. I guess I will still need to think and choose between Kobe and Nagoya.

And thanks for pointing out the typo :)

Yeah, spent a few days in Nagoya and wasn't particularly excited, to tell you the truth. I'd shave off those days and spend them in other places with lots of history, eg Hikone (great castle, nice little castle town on lake Biwa, also not riddled with foreigners) or Uji (lovely natural setting).
Or maybe even skip past Nagoya and take the chuo line up to Matsumoto (a tad boring as a town but the castle is awesome with the best armour and weapon collection I've seen) then back stopping at Tsumago & more to the point Magome (wildly overrated I think but now that I've crushed your expectations you'd appreciate it more), stopping by Hikone on the way back.

Sorry, have to put in a plug for Nagoya: we love it.
The 500 Yen Meguro loop bus takes you everywhere.
http://www.nagoya-info.jp/en/routebus/
The Tokugawa Museum and Garden are a wonderful half day: well worth seeing.
Nagoya Castle rebuilt living quarters are stunning
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3300.html
A side trip to the Ise Shrines is also well worthwhile: beautiful area and such interesting shrine history
There are other things to see and do in Nagoya, depending on your interests, and yes, it is also possible to go to Inuyama, Takayama and Matsumoto as side trips.
The eating options in the station are excellent: Miso Udon on 12 th floor is iconic, as is Miso Katsu in the Meitetsu building (can�ft remember which floor).
If you are interested in ceramics then the polar opposites of Noritake (modern porcelain) and Tokoname (traditional earthen ware)
http://www.nic-nagoya.or.jp/en/nicwalkingguides/nic_walking_guide_22.p...
I recommend Nagoya as a great base for touring.
Enjoy!

Yup. I like Nagoya too. But in terms of history that the OP mentioned as compared to other cities/towns/sites in the region, Nagoya is seriously lacking.

Kobe has some historical significance as a port. Westerners would live in this area. The Kitano area. That said, the port area is greatly built up and besides a museum dedicated to a past-but recent earthquake there is not much in terms of history. Unless you count the nihonshu breweries. Sake has been around for centuries...
Furthermore, you may be interested in history, but I doubt you are going to Kobe to see European architecture.

If you are really into history, Ise Shrine has a very traditional architecture style. There are many places where historical battles took place. Battle of Sekigahara, is at.... Sekigahara! (I know right)

A number of castles went through siege and a number of plains had clashes. (Though, Osaka saw no blood)

If you want to cut down on the historical warlords, and concentrate on history in general, Kanazawa+Takayama and Ise are some options to consider.

I know I did mention Honno-ji. Ironical naming aside, the shopping arcade takes up much space. Meaning not all forty plus original temples are still existing. Probably due to the fire. I was here during closing time so I didn't get to see much.

This is probably the same with Mount Hieizan where Enryakuji is. The temples there were destroyed (burned) by Nobunaga. (They were fighting monks with religious power. This political power started to corrupt them and Nobunaga became the pioneer of immolating and killing the religious)

That's how war is.

A number of castles went through siege and a number of plains had clashes. (Though, Osaka saw no blood)

Might want to check your history there...

Thanks for everyone's advice!

I guess it will be a good idea just not to bother with Kobe. As for Nagoya, I probably will make a day trip to Matsusaka and leave one day for the city.

Hope it will turn out to be nice~

OOPs. Guessed I mixed Himeji and Osaka up. Osaka saw much blood. And was the armory during WW2.

No worries, it's hard to keep track of all these castles anyway ;)

If you're interested in Oda Nobunaga, his castle was Gifu Castle. It's a reconstruction, just like Osaka and Nagoya Castles, but a Nobunaga fan should visit Gifu.