Nagoya Finally!

We finally made it down to Nagoya to visit Yuhei and Jennifer! It was a 6 hour drive, but we are pros at road tripping by now. There was actually a typhoon heading toward Nagoya all week, but we kept our plans. Then at the last minute, the typhoon turned and didn’t really affect Nagoya. Actually the weather was perfect for us. We drove down past Mount Fuji, but as usual, it was cloudy and we couldn’t see it. So when we went home, we took a different path through the heart of the country. It was super pretty.

We stayed in an Airbnb that was only a 5 minute walk from Yuhei’s apartment. It was in an area called Osu! So we pretended there were just fans of Ohio State everywhere. The house was really cool.

The first thing we did was eat my favorite chicken wings on Saturday night. Its a place called Sekai no Yamachan. We had a private little room and we sat on tatami mats. The kids were really great. Sekai no Yamachan is in other areas of Japan, but its from Nagoya originally. And they are seriously my favorite wings in Japan or America. We forgot to take pics!

The first place we went on Sunday morning was Nagoya Castle. We saw some real life ninjas out walking around teaching kids how to do ninja things. Caroline was super scared of them though so we kept our distance. The inside of the castle was being renovated so we couldn’t go in. But the outside was all visible.

Next we went to Ichiran Ramen! We actually went to the first Ichiran I ever ate at. The one that gave me my addiction 10 years ago. It was cool to take Heather and the kids there. I didn’t think 10 years ago that I would be bringing my family there.

After that we rode the subway to one of the three most famous shrines in Japan called Atsuta Jingu. Apparently it houses a special sword. The other two famous temples (one in Tokyo and one in Ise) have a special necklace and a special mirror. We don’t really understand the true meaning behind them, but being Harry Potter fans, we relate it to the Deathly Hallows. If you possess the sword, the necklace, and the mirror then you become too powerful so they have to keep them separated across Japan.

We headed back to our neighborhood and we walked around the shopping district. The kids got some candy at a candy shop, Heather, Yuhei, and Jennifer got some Starbucks, and I got a pineapple mango smoothie from a vendor. The kids loved hanging out with Uncle Yuhei.

We checked out one last shrine, which is really famous in Nagoya called Osu Kannon. Its really pretty and huge.

Then we went home and ordered some pizzas, put the kids to bed, and played some Super Blood Hockey! We defeated North Korea in the championship game. Epic. Monday morning we got up, stopped over at Yuhei’s to say bye and headed home! It was a laid back weekend. No real goals except to visit with friends. So everything we did was just bonus.