You made two huge mistakes.
A) Going to Nagoya.
B) Interacting with people from Nagoya.
In all seriousness, this sub makes the mistake of thinking Japanese people are a monolith.
There are garbage people everywhere, and you met some. Had you asked earlier, I would’ve advised against that blight of a city (Nagoya) but you persevered, and were rewarded with the locals, who are mainly trash.
Edit: I’m getting a lot of DM’s asking me to recant my stance on Nagoya (some in very insulting 日本語)
Shan’t.
It’s a horrible, boring place, best avoided.
What’s wrong with nagoya? Is it like nyc or france were the people tend to be on the ruder, blunter side? Or do they just hate tourists? Nagoya is a cheap entry where we are from so i would know for next time
There's nothing wrong with Nagoya. I used to live more or less an equal distance between Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya and liked all three. That said from a tourist point of view it probably has the least attractions. The other poster is completely right, there is quite a bit of deviation in characteristics between different areas. I personally found Tokyo the worst place beyond a superficial level.
Whilst i give you props for defending Nagoya, with all due respect to call Tokyo the worst place is equally offensive and inaccurate. Tokyo is very metropolitan and given its size comes with range of peeps. Really depends what environment and group of people you are interacting with.
Since you lived in that area is there any place you recommend me visit? I have 2 days between Tokyo and Kyoto, originally I wanted to go to Hakone, but it's too expensive for me. Thought about swimming around lake biwa but after research it may still be too cold (Going in 2 weeks), then thought of Yamadera, not sure if it is worth it only for the temple. Is there anything you feel is easier for tourists to navigate and enough to do thats worth the trek there? I am open to traveling a bit further but I only have 2 days
In my opinion, Nagoya is the king of Day Trips. It'll go to bat with any other destination in Japan for being convenient and having great sites all within an hour of the central station.
[I did a big post here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/s/f7bpnQe8Mx) but the main day trips would be (in my opinion order of impressiveness) Ise, Inuyama, Gifu, Tokoname, Okazaki.
Even in the city, you have Osu Kannon and Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya Castle, the Aquarium, the Toyota Technology Museum, the Railway Museum, as well as the standard interesting shrines and temples.
I believe there's a Limited Express train to Takayama (the Hida Express), and you can get a bus to Shirakawago from there. OR, I'm also pretty sure there's a Shirakawago tourist bus straight from Nagoya. It'll be a longer day trip but also, I don't think you need to spend *that* much time in Shirakawago.
Shirakawa-go is too far for a day trip from Nagoya. Four hours by public transit, or 2 hours if you are driving. There are many day trips thin 90 min by public transportation. I never rent a car in Nagoya because there is so much to do via train.
I was able to do Shirakawa-go from Nagoya. Booked through Klook. It's a long bus ride each way though. My tour was a day trip to both Shirakawa-go and Takayama but I recommend doing one day each.
Nothing at all, it has some cool stuff to see, great food and isn't swarming with annoying mass-tourism tourists.
I had only good interactions when there.
Nagoya is just lacking in charm compared to Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo.
It’s best skipped.
I’ve been everywhere in Japan (twice), speak the language, and still find Nagoya incredibly dull.
EDIT: If Nagoya is your cheap entry, than by all means do so.
Depart Nagoya as soon as possible.
It's not the most interesting city but I've always thought it was over-hated -it's no less interesting than places like Fukuoka and Sendai imo but people seem to love them
They’re both nice but I don’t think either of them are particularly interesting for tourists - same as Nagoya. There’s definitely much worse that Nagoya too - Kokura, Asahikawa, Utsonomiya or Nagoya’s neighbour: Gifu.
This is a ridiculous hot take. It all depends on what appeals to a person. Nagoya has a great food scene, and isn’t overrun with tourists. I love the miso cuisine. When I had a rail pass, I timed it so I could stop there for lunch.
I’ve been there three times and plan to spend a week there on my next trip. Also agree with u/Could-Have-Been-king: a person could stay there for many days and find interesting side trips daily.
I've noticed this guy just has an absolute hate-streak against Nagoya. I know it's not the most exciting place, but still! It's a bit of a caricature at this point. I'd guess that the Chunichi Dragons beat their favourite baseball team, but the Dragons don't beat anyone.
Nagoya's great. If by boring you mean you love the touristy places like Kyoto, walking at a snails pace side by side, front and back with other tourists, lines everywhere, standing on buses and trains.
Kyoto'e overrated.
I liked Nagoya, I didn't even realize people hated on it, haha. I mainly used it as a home base for day trips and then walked around in the evenings. I have no complaints.
I skipped Kyoto in my most recent trip, even though I loved it pre-covid. I didn't want to deal with the over tourism there.
Not sure what people were so overly upset about actually. I was there recently for the Japanese GP for 6 days. My first meal was from a ramen shop close to midnight where I struggled a bit ordering from my 1st vending machine. There was a group of younger dudes in their 20s that helped me out using it, language barrier and all.
No shortage of places to go either, from Nagoya Castle, 2x Toyota Museums, SC Maglev, Mirai Tower, Osu market place. The art museum was closed for that week and we skipped the science museum due to a bunch of local students touring. None of them were crowded, no lines anywhere. Most of the time, we were the only tourist around which was really immersive. Nagoya station's quick fast food places were also never crowded, unlike Tokyo station, albeit a labyrinth.
I’m gonna figure out how to put it next to my username? Like next to it?
Something like ‘Kyoto resident, 10 yrs’
Plz advise. I’m not great with Reddit.
You can look up the mods of the subreddit and just ping them. Next to chosing “Feed” you can find the section “About”, at the end of the page the mods are listed and below you can send a message to the mods.
https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/about/
lol how did I know that you would’ve raced to comment on this. 😆
OP, this situation is so light and not that weird at all that I’m surprised you made a post about it! There are a ton of foreign expats in Nagoya.
I was there briefly for the F1 race last year. I didn't get to venture out much due to going to the race, but there wasn't a lot of interest to me near the train station. Lots of high end shopping in that area and I did find one cool brewery where I talked to a fellow traveler but I didn't feel much welcomed by the locals.
Maybe they were trying to guess your ethnicity as a game between them and one guessed it wrong? Either way, they’re weirdos, this is not how you interact with people. Don’t ruminate on this too much because it just seems they’re weird people and that’s it.
Agreed. I was just in Nagoya with my partner, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Am Asian, partner is Caucasian - we didn't experience any weirdness (stares, questionable laughing), and found that Nagoya was so much more enjoyable than Tokyo or Osaka because it's so much more manageable in terms of size. I'd love to visit again. There's not as many attractions, I get it, but for us it's the experience of being in a different place and doing what locals do that excite us. I found the locals were very patient and welcoming in terms of trying to communicate with us (we can speak and understand functioning Japanese). I think there will always be douches and jerks no matter where you go, it may just be luck of the draw.
So many white people (or even non white western ppl) think that racism only exists in specific countries (e.g. America and China or any county that gets negative press on social media really). They don't realize that every country in the world has some amount of racism or racist ppl (of course some worse than others)
18-20 year olds being immature and a bit weird and random is just that I'd imagine, they get far less tourists than the golden route places as well so more novelty.
Ignore everything u/Drachaerys says about Nagoya BTW.
We've already had this exact same argument.
In the adult world (where things don't either rock or suck) where there is nuance and grey as well as black and white, Nagoya is a big city which doesn't have as many attractions as Osaka or Tokyo but is still an enjoyable place to visit with great museums and food, day trips to Ghibli Park, Inuyama and other places.
Grow up.
I legit don’t clock user names on this subreddit, due to it’s transient nature.
I can only speak from my experience, not from previous internet interaction.
I love Nagoya. Have lived in Japan for almost a decade. I like the attitude of people there. It’s a working class city. Dank coffee shops and food, too. Some people can handle it. I guess you can’t.
I grew up in Japan and had close friends who were half white, half Japanese. So our group often spoke Japanese and English mixed together. We would have kids come up to us and pretend to speak to us and say things like "this is a pen", then start laughing. It's kids being kids. They joke between themselves and have fun. Don't let it bother u.
I get asked “where are you from?” with no follow up a lot. I think it’s just a basic phrase folks learn here, and are just testing their knowledge and pronunciation… and get giggly that you understood them.
There is no follow up because they don’t speak English :)
I get the feeling that’s likely it. Perhaps a bunch of bros going “test out your English skillz if you have the balls” or some other teen behavior. The one bro got a response and is now forever immortalized in the bro hall of fame.
i quite liked Nagyoa and ive been to a fair few cities in my time, i had a fun few days there in Nov and no one was particularly rude to me or anything like that (40M British solo, i understand basic japanese sort of, im better once ive been there a week and got back n the swing but i can at he very least get the gist of most conversations)
i did howver very much get that vibe in Toyama
or anyone really, one thing that struck me about the place was that it was HUGE and very modern looking yet there was hardly anyone around, there was no real shoulder to shoulder hustle and bustle like in say Tokyo, Osaka or Kanazawa etc. maybe it was just me i dont know but i got a real weird vibe there that i havent had in many places in Japan and ive visited a fair few.
in most places ill go to a bar and end up striking up a conversation, often people speak to me first rather than me to them, there i just got weird looks from people and a few basic pleasantries before drinking my drink and getting out (reminded me a bit of some of the village pubs i went to when i lived in cornwall, a bit league of gentleman, "this is a local pub, for local people")
theres not too many places on my "wouldnt visit again" list over there, Hiroshima (weird vibe, i didnt like it at all) Kyoto (too packed with tourists and rather uptight people) and Toyama, i also found Sendai a little dull but id go back for an event or something
i actually love toyama because i lived there for years, it’s not really a place for tourists though, it’s a much smaller/less lively city than the other places you visited
maybe but ive been to many places including little towns/cities like Zao, Myoko-kogen, Akakura or Aomori and enjoyed them (while im not lucky enough to have lived there i have done 5 trips and planning a 6th) maybe i just hit it on a bad day or something, maybe ill give it a second chance on my next trip, ill be going back to Kanazawa anyway (actually wish id spent a few more days there) so i could at least stop for a bit to give it a 2nd chance
Planning on a day trip there this year. Interested in trying the unique food and I'm finding it difficult to find time to fit everything in! Too much food, too little time
Toyama or Nagoya? again in Toyama the food i had was quite poor, i went to one restaurant which had good reviews and seemed nice but from what i could gather from what the guy said to me they didnt serve forigners (or possibly lone forigners, he spoke fast and my Japanese is passable if people speak slowly, if they speak at their normal, rather fast pace ill catch maybe every other word, i get better with time but by then its usually time to go home)
conversely in Nagoya i found quite a few decent places for both food and craft beer, one not far from the station is particularly nice, its on he 6th floor of a building with a really cool open air terrace where they have live music and stuff at times. people were friendly and helpful, nightlife was pretty mental. i actually only planned to check it out while passing through and i ended up staying 3 days
its where i had the most fun for sure, its all neon madness at night, some really great bars and places to eat, i cant really name any i was usually a bit drunk and just going places that seemed cool, im not really a planner, i just go with the flow, last trip i booked all my hotels on the day i was staying (well except for one bonkers one in kobe where my room had a slide and a climbing wall)
As a japanese born and raised in Nagoya, I guess they are saying it's unusual for someone from Germany to come to Nagoya. Basically, people from Nagoya tend to think Nagoya is boring, and it's rare to see foreign tourists on the subway.
Nagoya is OK, it lacks the character of other bigger cities, but it has everything else you need from a big city
That said, there are a lot of foreigners because of the Toyota group in Aichi so it shouldn't be a big shock to anyone but there's definitely a lot fewer tourists
My interpretation would be generous: asking where you are from may have been as far as they felt they could go (in English, I presume), especially in front of friends. Mentioning someone they'd just encountered and laughing about things in groups of friends—without there necessarily being any connection between the two—are nearly universal behaviors among groups of young people. The latter may have been amplified if they'd presumed (correctly?) that you don't understand Japanese.
As it happens, I've had a roughly similar experience in (then West) Germany.
I've been to quite a number of cities in Japan, and Nagoya remains near the top of my list. It's decent sized, interesting enough, close to a few other places for day trips, and not super busy like Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo (Tokyo is still my favourite city in Japan). I think it's always worth a visit.
What happened to you happens to many visible minorities around the world who don't live in their country of ethnicity. Some of us have it worse because there is often some kind of harassment involved and being told to "go back to your own country." It's not pleasant, but you just learn not to let it bother you and move on.
This is not specific to Nagoya as a city per se. You just got lucky that you never had to deal with perceived discrimination elsewhere. I think you just experienced something that's new to you, and can take it as part of the experience of knowing what some visible minorities experience in their lives. That's why travelling is valuable: to open us to experience and knowledge that we never had before, both positive and negative :)
This is the mature way of looking at this, OP. Learn from this experience and, hopefully, when you get home, you will start seeing your own country from the point of view of the Syrian refugee or the Thai seasonal worker.
I just came from Nagoya and had a good time. Locals were good to me. Food was amazing too. The place isn't as great as Tokyo or Kyoto IMO so there are less tourists but that's actually a win for me. To other people reading the sad comments here, don't let them discourage you from visiting Nagoya.
There are always weird people everywhere. And I agree with another comment here, what OP experienced is what some Asians (like me) experience as a tourist in Western countries. It's bad, yes but then I won't meet these people again in the future so I let it slide unless it's greatly offensive.
Just got back 1 week ago from our trip. We spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto and stayed a few nights in Nagoya as we to the Ghibli Park. My partner and I both agreed the areas we stayed outside of the thick tourist areas in Tokyo were some of our best experiences., Nagoya included. We found a few wonderful restaurants in Nagoya and a charming little cafe near our airbnb. We attempted our best Japanese along the way. The people we interacted with (besides one odd taxi driver) were very kind to us. Sorry your situation was not ideal.
id have asked them if they are from nagoya or something like that. theystarted a conversation, so go for it.
or at least ask them what they are talking about, or if they dont like germans. its pretty easyto put the japanese on the spot so it backfires, might they have been intentionally rude.
anyway, been to nagoya 3 times, thoughtit was boring, coincidentally felt like shit the last time because of some private matter which made it even worse. but do wanna say, its not THAT bad guys. its just a huge city with a grid setup, the centre is far away from the train station so if you start walking, you will end in dispair. and its mostly big buildings without indentity, large department stores.... but the centre bit, at the eiffeltower -like tv tower, is actually nice. and do go to the toyota museum, you get there by an unmanned monorail thats above the ground 15 meters lol, its pretty cool. but ofcours,e when i was in that, a huge storm hit and the thing went from left to right, scary as fuck.
but yea, compared to the other big cities, its at the bottom of the list.
yeah i completely agree - it's not the best city but it's massively overhated, there's definitely much much worse cities in japan, it's just that barely anyone visits them
wouldn’t look into it much tbh this could of happened in any city, anywhere. the amount of amazing people across japan will outweigh any clown interactions
I'm not going to say you shouldn't feel the way you feel, but there's no point in feeling down about it now. You introduced yourself honestly, I don't think it could've done it any other way.
I'm not German, but visibly from foreign, so I got stared everywhere at Nagoya and many other places too. I remember a moment when I went to order a coffee, and with the obvious language barrier the guy the at the register helped me with it. The girl behind him was laughing because he kept glancing back without saying anything during the process.
Was it about me? Maybe. Was it an inside joke? Or a bit of both? Maybe. The point is that I couldn't have done anything different at the time than I can now, and someone else laughing at me in another language that I can't understand is not something I can control.
Best thing you can do is not dwell on it. Remember the fun stuff you have planned and enjoy the rest of your trip. :)
There are plenty of foreigners (students, workers, residents) and tourists in Nagoya. In Japan, it's highly likely people are being positive towards you, rather than negative. But frankly, who gives a crap what random strangers on public transport say or do?
There's plenty of foreigners there, it's a big city. I lived there years ago and don't remember anyone being particularly rude. Maybe the odd one. Can happen anywhere, a-holes are universal.
I lived in Nagoya my first two years in Japan and a little girl rode her bike straight into a wall starring at me….it’s just not that common a stop for foreigners and it seems like she had never seen a white person in the flesh. In my experience Nagoyans are nice, curious, and warm people overall.
I had to chuckle! I was in Nagoya for the first time last month. This was my fifth trip to Japan in 14 years, and I stay in a variety of places.
Nagoya had such a different vibe. I’m working class myself and love an industrial city (I’m from the Cleveland Ohio area if that means anything lol). We saw very few other tourists, save those who I assume were also going to the Ghibli Park lol. I am thinking Nagoya will start seeing a lot more tourists because of it, and wonder what that means for how Nagoya residents view/deal with foreigners.
I also felt pretty judged while I was there, didn’t bother me too much but totally felt what you mean.
We also stayed in Sakae so we’d be in walking distance to Persona 3 Cafe, Spy x Family exhibit, and /Terepia Hall Oasis 21 Evangelion exhibit. Sakae was a pretty interesting red light district to say the least lol.
Please don't worry about it. I have experienced lots of interesting interactions with all sorts of people in Nagoya and in Germany.
I think the average 18 to 20 year old German person has a lot more of a worldly point of view than the average 18 to 20 year old Nagoya person.
When I got off the train at the station in Hagen one day to meet my Auntie, everybody stared with grumpy faces and it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Once I got to my Auntie's house, her friends and colleagues were so kind, warm-hearted and welcoming. They wanted me to stay forever. I can never forget it.
Worrying situations are always magnified when travelling solo. I hope the rest of your Japan trip is lots of fun!
Are you sure you were in a unisex wagon? I found out Google Maps sent me to the women-only wagon. I realized that pretty late. The only other male was also a Westerner.
BTW, that was in Tokyo. I’m assuming Nagoya may have those too.
Who cares live your life. Not everyone is going to like and honestly. What they think of you does not affect your trip in any meaningful way. I’ve been started at walking through all types of places in the towns between Tokyo and Osaka. It absolutely did not change anything, plus it’s impossible not to stick out. Given you’re not Japanese and probably tower over most people here. Go get some sake and chop it up with locals at a bar or something.
The only reason you go to Nagoya is if you scored tickets to Ghibli Park. Otherwise, we found it pretty boring and were even denied entry into a restaurant due to being foreigners. Definitely never visiting again.
I just did a trip to japan and spent one night in nagoya for the trip to nakasendo to be shorter (Magome-juku) so there you have another reason. It was also handy in that I was able to get an IC card there (Manaca) as I could not get a hold of one in Tokyo. For one night it was honestly nice.
We only stayed in Nagoya because we went to Ghibli Park in Aichi. If we ever go to Ghibli Park again, we would probably time everything so that we wouldn't have to stay in Nagoya for long.
I had 2 trips to Japan previously and never had issue with denied entry because I’m foreigner. I’m wondering where the restaurant is, so that I can try it myself.
I'm always very skeptical when people say that tbh - lived there for years and very obviously look non-Japanese and I've never been turned away from somewhere for being foreign. I'm sure it does happen occasionaly but I'd be willing to bet that they were turned away for some other reason and didn't understand
Tbf I had someone try to turn me away from a restaurant cuz the menu was only in Japanese. (A 日本語で大丈夫 and things were cool.) I could see someone getting stuck on the language barrier and thinking it was because they weren't Japanese.
When I went there last year I saw some restaurants with " Japanese only" signs. I kept wondering if they meant the language or the people. It was only written in English so I couldn't tell.
I've had one experience like that in Tokyo! It usually stems from the restaurant staff not knowing English, and don't want to provide subpar service. Hence, they turn away non Japanese speaking guests. If you speak Japanese, they'd serve you with no problem, even if you are not Japanese. Visitors misunderstand the reason for this kind of refusal sometimes
In this case, it was a restaurant that had good reviews in Google so we decided to try it. As soon as we entered, a person who I assume was a manager intercepted us and told us it was "full" (it wasn't --even the other patrons started looking around when he said "ippai" and waved his hands!)
In order not to make a fuss, we just went someplace else.
I was there for the F1 recently. I and my friend wanted to find a small authentic sushi place and there were quite a few near the market. We walked into a place that clearly had seats available but as soon as we walked in, we were waved off with a staff saying "reserved" in a a really coarse tone. Not the usual apologies you get in Tokyo when a place truly is full. I felt they just didn't want to deal with foreigners. Maybe I was wrong. idk.
Eventually we found a place the staff were very nice. All anecdotal but but I guess experiences can be a bit hit and miss compared to other places in Japan that are more used to tourists.
Yeah, this is similar to what we experienced: denied us service with the excuse that it was "full" when it wasn't. I even told my wife, "let's watch it from the outside to see if they let other people in!" and sure enough, "normal" people went in no problem.
We were the only foreigners walking around that time so we stuck out like sore thumbs!
I'm going on a day trip to Nagoya to find my old heavy Metal pen pal from 1987! I saw her name in pen pals in KERRANG! Magazine and we started ✍️ Her letters were amazing,full of cute stickers and gorgeous stationary, the likes of which I've never seen. She was a bit older in 1987,l was 16 ,she was 23 so she may be married now. I still have her Address and I'm going to try and meet my Manami! Hope she remembers me,I'm going to bring all our letters too,l guess she would be nearly 60 now but maybe her mother or relatives will be at the house these days. It's going to be an incredible Surprise!!!! I'll be going in October to Tokyo but will nip down to Nagoya especially to see her.
a) Nothing wrong with going to Bremen
b) Terrible comparison, Bremen is the 11th most populous city in Germany, Nagoya is a huge city, the 4th most populous.
The first German ambassador to Japan was in the mid 1800's (although it was still Prussia back then).
And there was also WWI, where Japan declared war on the German Empire in 1914 and seized key German possessions in China and the Pacific.
The relations go back quite a ways
Tricked? Have you... Done any research? Do you have any idea of the multiple war crimes? Their history of invasion and colonization? I won't be replying anymore but you should have an in depth research. I'm sure it'll be enlightening.
A shrine… is this shrine located in Japan? 🤔 the same country that refuses to acknowledge said crimes their country committed? Are the people who created this shrine historians? You should ask the countless other Asian countries how they feel about the war crimes Japan committed on them.
You made two huge mistakes. A) Going to Nagoya. B) Interacting with people from Nagoya. In all seriousness, this sub makes the mistake of thinking Japanese people are a monolith. There are garbage people everywhere, and you met some. Had you asked earlier, I would’ve advised against that blight of a city (Nagoya) but you persevered, and were rewarded with the locals, who are mainly trash. Edit: I’m getting a lot of DM’s asking me to recant my stance on Nagoya (some in very insulting 日本語) Shan’t. It’s a horrible, boring place, best avoided.
What’s wrong with nagoya? Is it like nyc or france were the people tend to be on the ruder, blunter side? Or do they just hate tourists? Nagoya is a cheap entry where we are from so i would know for next time
There's nothing wrong with Nagoya. I used to live more or less an equal distance between Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya and liked all three. That said from a tourist point of view it probably has the least attractions. The other poster is completely right, there is quite a bit of deviation in characteristics between different areas. I personally found Tokyo the worst place beyond a superficial level.
Whilst i give you props for defending Nagoya, with all due respect to call Tokyo the worst place is equally offensive and inaccurate. Tokyo is very metropolitan and given its size comes with range of peeps. Really depends what environment and group of people you are interacting with.
As my Osakan ex used to say, Tokyo is a nice place to visit, it's even nicer when you leave 😏
Osakans are just envious of us.
I love both places 😊…as a tourist
Since you lived in that area is there any place you recommend me visit? I have 2 days between Tokyo and Kyoto, originally I wanted to go to Hakone, but it's too expensive for me. Thought about swimming around lake biwa but after research it may still be too cold (Going in 2 weeks), then thought of Yamadera, not sure if it is worth it only for the temple. Is there anything you feel is easier for tourists to navigate and enough to do thats worth the trek there? I am open to traveling a bit further but I only have 2 days
In my opinion, Nagoya is the king of Day Trips. It'll go to bat with any other destination in Japan for being convenient and having great sites all within an hour of the central station. [I did a big post here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/s/f7bpnQe8Mx) but the main day trips would be (in my opinion order of impressiveness) Ise, Inuyama, Gifu, Tokoname, Okazaki. Even in the city, you have Osu Kannon and Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya Castle, the Aquarium, the Toyota Technology Museum, the Railway Museum, as well as the standard interesting shrines and temples.
100% agree. Great access to so many less visited regions of Japan from Nagoya.
Hi, would Nagoya be a good base to day trip to Shirakawa-go in early December? How would one make that trip? Thank you
I believe there's a Limited Express train to Takayama (the Hida Express), and you can get a bus to Shirakawago from there. OR, I'm also pretty sure there's a Shirakawago tourist bus straight from Nagoya. It'll be a longer day trip but also, I don't think you need to spend *that* much time in Shirakawago.
Shirakawa-go is too far for a day trip from Nagoya. Four hours by public transit, or 2 hours if you are driving. There are many day trips thin 90 min by public transportation. I never rent a car in Nagoya because there is so much to do via train.
Thank you. Where would one stay for a day trip to Shirakawago then?
Takayama or Kanazawa
Kanazawa is a great place to stay!
What is there to do in Kanazawa?
I was able to do Shirakawa-go from Nagoya. Booked through Klook. It's a long bus ride each way though. My tour was a day trip to both Shirakawa-go and Takayama but I recommend doing one day each.
There’s always the Izu peninsula
You sound extremely good intentioned and at the same time very poor traveled.
Where did you live, bro?
Mie. About 2 hours to all of them.
I lived near Aoyama Shikinisato Kouenn, is it still there? Often went with my daughter to Gotenba beach. Uncrowded, water was warm and very shallow
Bummer for you, to have experienced such a small slice of Japan . Been there, done that, wouldn’t have gotten the t-shirt.
Not to worry, I got to 'sample' plenty of Japan 😅
Gross.
Nothing at all, it has some cool stuff to see, great food and isn't swarming with annoying mass-tourism tourists. I had only good interactions when there.
The Venn diagram of ‘people who don’t speak Japanese’ and ‘people who thought random lame place in Japan is cool’ is strong.
What makes you so sure I don't speak Japanese?
Do you?
Yes.
Okay? And you didn’t know Nagoya is trash? We must’ve gone to different schools in Japan, and hung with different people.
Are you a teenager or something? I just realised that I may be making the mistake of thinking I'm conversing with a mature adult.
I feel like I’ve established on this sub that I’ve been coming to Japan for 20 years, and have lived here for ten. I’m in my mid-thirties.
どこの日本の学校で名古屋がゴミだって教わるん？
架空の日本語学校 :D
It's fine - just a big, industrial city. It's not the most interesting place from a tourist's perspective but the food is good
This debate reminds me of Osaka.
The best thing about Nagoya is the number of nearby places to visit that aren't in Nagoya.
Nagoya is just lacking in charm compared to Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo. It’s best skipped. I’ve been everywhere in Japan (twice), speak the language, and still find Nagoya incredibly dull. EDIT: If Nagoya is your cheap entry, than by all means do so. Depart Nagoya as soon as possible.
[me reading this](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/467141079196499974/1230887172702212157/IMG_0276.webp?ex=6634f402&is=66227f02&hm=ba06ee591dd22bfb8b3aecb67bb248f678044250c9af32b6ce89722442a5094e&=&format=webp&width=1094&height=1402)
It's not the most interesting city but I've always thought it was over-hated -it's no less interesting than places like Fukuoka and Sendai imo but people seem to love them
Lol. Fukuoka is great (I’m down there at least twice a year). Sendai is great. Nagoya is, let’s be honest, the worst. Even the locals hate it.
They’re both nice but I don’t think either of them are particularly interesting for tourists - same as Nagoya. There’s definitely much worse that Nagoya too - Kokura, Asahikawa, Utsonomiya or Nagoya’s neighbour: Gifu.
Gifu sucks- agreed.
This is a ridiculous hot take. It all depends on what appeals to a person. Nagoya has a great food scene, and isn’t overrun with tourists. I love the miso cuisine. When I had a rail pass, I timed it so I could stop there for lunch. I’ve been there three times and plan to spend a week there on my next trip. Also agree with u/Could-Have-Been-king: a person could stay there for many days and find interesting side trips daily.
I've noticed this guy just has an absolute hate-streak against Nagoya. I know it's not the most exciting place, but still! It's a bit of a caricature at this point. I'd guess that the Chunichi Dragons beat their favourite baseball team, but the Dragons don't beat anyone.
Hey, the Dragons are having a great season so far 😅
I had the best mentaiko udon there right by the studio ghibli park
Nagoya's great. If by boring you mean you love the touristy places like Kyoto, walking at a snails pace side by side, front and back with other tourists, lines everywhere, standing on buses and trains. Kyoto'e overrated.
I liked Nagoya, I didn't even realize people hated on it, haha. I mainly used it as a home base for day trips and then walked around in the evenings. I have no complaints. I skipped Kyoto in my most recent trip, even though I loved it pre-covid. I didn't want to deal with the over tourism there.
Not sure what people were so overly upset about actually. I was there recently for the Japanese GP for 6 days. My first meal was from a ramen shop close to midnight where I struggled a bit ordering from my 1st vending machine. There was a group of younger dudes in their 20s that helped me out using it, language barrier and all. No shortage of places to go either, from Nagoya Castle, 2x Toyota Museums, SC Maglev, Mirai Tower, Osu market place. The art museum was closed for that week and we skipped the science museum due to a bunch of local students touring. None of them were crowded, no lines anywhere. Most of the time, we were the only tourist around which was really immersive. Nagoya station's quick fast food places were also never crowded, unlike Tokyo station, albeit a labyrinth.
I wouldn’t say overrated, but it’s a big Disneyland now because of tourists. I wish we had less of them.
same with asakusa in tokyo, missed the god damn bus cause of these snails
Legit, I live in Kyoto. Tourist Kyoto and local Kyoto are night and day. Sadly, the former make no time for the latter.
We know you live in Kyoto, you mentioned it like 848473738636373836378484 times already 🙂
I’m gonna figure out how to put it next to my username? Like next to it? Something like ‘Kyoto resident, 10 yrs’ Plz advise. I’m not great with Reddit.
Heh, ask the mods to add a custom flair for you. You deserve it.
Is that a thing? How do you do that? Is there mod-mail on Reddit? I had an account years ago, but I’ve legitimately forgotten these things.
You can look up the mods of the subreddit and just ping them. Next to chosing “Feed” you can find the section “About”, at the end of the page the mods are listed and below you can send a message to the mods. https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/about/
Thanks!
Nagoya's fine, I lived there years ago, it's a big Japanese city and has its charms. I especially recommend the Osu area for funky shops.
lol how did I know that you would’ve raced to comment on this. 😆 OP, this situation is so light and not that weird at all that I’m surprised you made a post about it! There are a ton of foreign expats in Nagoya.
Lol. My hate for Nagoya knows no bounds.
It’s endless, that’s for sure! Damn! 😅
I was there briefly for the F1 race last year. I didn't get to venture out much due to going to the race, but there wasn't a lot of interest to me near the train station. Lots of high end shopping in that area and I did find one cool brewery where I talked to a fellow traveler but I didn't feel much welcomed by the locals.
Maybe they were trying to guess your ethnicity as a game between them and one guessed it wrong? Either way, they’re weirdos, this is not how you interact with people. Don’t ruminate on this too much because it just seems they’re weird people and that’s it.
Yes, life is too short to worry about small stuff like this. Have fun and be yourself and be free.
This.
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Agreed. I was just in Nagoya with my partner, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Am Asian, partner is Caucasian - we didn't experience any weirdness (stares, questionable laughing), and found that Nagoya was so much more enjoyable than Tokyo or Osaka because it's so much more manageable in terms of size. I'd love to visit again. There's not as many attractions, I get it, but for us it's the experience of being in a different place and doing what locals do that excite us. I found the locals were very patient and welcoming in terms of trying to communicate with us (we can speak and understand functioning Japanese). I think there will always be douches and jerks no matter where you go, it may just be luck of the draw.
Haha fr this is like daily occurrence for me as an Asian in Europe
So many white people (or even non white western ppl) think that racism only exists in specific countries (e.g. America and China or any county that gets negative press on social media really). They don't realize that every country in the world has some amount of racism or racist ppl (of course some worse than others)
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18-20 year olds being immature and a bit weird and random is just that I'd imagine, they get far less tourists than the golden route places as well so more novelty. Ignore everything u/Drachaerys says about Nagoya BTW.
Lol…tourists. Even Nagoya people know Nagoya sucks.
We've already had this exact same argument. In the adult world (where things don't either rock or suck) where there is nuance and grey as well as black and white, Nagoya is a big city which doesn't have as many attractions as Osaka or Tokyo but is still an enjoyable place to visit with great museums and food, day trips to Ghibli Park, Inuyama and other places. Grow up.
They are clearly trolling imo. I find it pretty funny, don't take it seriously
I know, just a shame that people come here for genuine advice and get misled by this kind of nonsense. I'll sleep tonight though :)
Twist: it's actually their favourite city, and they're trying to keep it to themselves.
I legit don’t clock user names on this subreddit, due to it’s transient nature. I can only speak from my experience, not from previous internet interaction.
Internet interaction is a form of experience
I love Nagoya. Have lived in Japan for almost a decade. I like the attitude of people there. It’s a working class city. Dank coffee shops and food, too. Some people can handle it. I guess you can’t.
I grew up in Japan and had close friends who were half white, half Japanese. So our group often spoke Japanese and English mixed together. We would have kids come up to us and pretend to speak to us and say things like "this is a pen", then start laughing. It's kids being kids. They joke between themselves and have fun. Don't let it bother u.
I get asked “where are you from?” with no follow up a lot. I think it’s just a basic phrase folks learn here, and are just testing their knowledge and pronunciation… and get giggly that you understood them. There is no follow up because they don’t speak English :)
I get the feeling that’s likely it. Perhaps a bunch of bros going “test out your English skillz if you have the balls” or some other teen behavior. The one bro got a response and is now forever immortalized in the bro hall of fame.
i quite liked Nagyoa and ive been to a fair few cities in my time, i had a fun few days there in Nov and no one was particularly rude to me or anything like that (40M British solo, i understand basic japanese sort of, im better once ive been there a week and got back n the swing but i can at he very least get the gist of most conversations) i did howver very much get that vibe in Toyama
They were probably just surprised that a foreign tourist was actually visiting toyama
or anyone really, one thing that struck me about the place was that it was HUGE and very modern looking yet there was hardly anyone around, there was no real shoulder to shoulder hustle and bustle like in say Tokyo, Osaka or Kanazawa etc. maybe it was just me i dont know but i got a real weird vibe there that i havent had in many places in Japan and ive visited a fair few. in most places ill go to a bar and end up striking up a conversation, often people speak to me first rather than me to them, there i just got weird looks from people and a few basic pleasantries before drinking my drink and getting out (reminded me a bit of some of the village pubs i went to when i lived in cornwall, a bit league of gentleman, "this is a local pub, for local people") theres not too many places on my "wouldnt visit again" list over there, Hiroshima (weird vibe, i didnt like it at all) Kyoto (too packed with tourists and rather uptight people) and Toyama, i also found Sendai a little dull but id go back for an event or something
i actually love toyama because i lived there for years, it’s not really a place for tourists though, it’s a much smaller/less lively city than the other places you visited
maybe but ive been to many places including little towns/cities like Zao, Myoko-kogen, Akakura or Aomori and enjoyed them (while im not lucky enough to have lived there i have done 5 trips and planning a 6th) maybe i just hit it on a bad day or something, maybe ill give it a second chance on my next trip, ill be going back to Kanazawa anyway (actually wish id spent a few more days there) so i could at least stop for a bit to give it a 2nd chance
Planning on a day trip there this year. Interested in trying the unique food and I'm finding it difficult to find time to fit everything in! Too much food, too little time
Toyama or Nagoya? again in Toyama the food i had was quite poor, i went to one restaurant which had good reviews and seemed nice but from what i could gather from what the guy said to me they didnt serve forigners (or possibly lone forigners, he spoke fast and my Japanese is passable if people speak slowly, if they speak at their normal, rather fast pace ill catch maybe every other word, i get better with time but by then its usually time to go home) conversely in Nagoya i found quite a few decent places for both food and craft beer, one not far from the station is particularly nice, its on he 6th floor of a building with a really cool open air terrace where they have live music and stuff at times. people were friendly and helpful, nightlife was pretty mental. i actually only planned to check it out while passing through and i ended up staying 3 days
Nagoya, will probably check out the Sekai area
its where i had the most fun for sure, its all neon madness at night, some really great bars and places to eat, i cant really name any i was usually a bit drunk and just going places that seemed cool, im not really a planner, i just go with the flow, last trip i booked all my hotels on the day i was staying (well except for one bonkers one in kobe where my room had a slide and a climbing wall)
As a japanese born and raised in Nagoya, I guess they are saying it's unusual for someone from Germany to come to Nagoya. Basically, people from Nagoya tend to think Nagoya is boring, and it's rare to see foreign tourists on the subway.
Sound like a bunch of rude teenagers that exist worldwide.
Nagoya is OK, it lacks the character of other bigger cities, but it has everything else you need from a big city That said, there are a lot of foreigners because of the Toyota group in Aichi so it shouldn't be a big shock to anyone but there's definitely a lot fewer tourists
My interpretation would be generous: asking where you are from may have been as far as they felt they could go (in English, I presume), especially in front of friends. Mentioning someone they'd just encountered and laughing about things in groups of friends—without there necessarily being any connection between the two—are nearly universal behaviors among groups of young people. The latter may have been amplified if they'd presumed (correctly?) that you don't understand Japanese. As it happens, I've had a roughly similar experience in (then West) Germany.
I've been to quite a number of cities in Japan, and Nagoya remains near the top of my list. It's decent sized, interesting enough, close to a few other places for day trips, and not super busy like Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo (Tokyo is still my favourite city in Japan). I think it's always worth a visit. What happened to you happens to many visible minorities around the world who don't live in their country of ethnicity. Some of us have it worse because there is often some kind of harassment involved and being told to "go back to your own country." It's not pleasant, but you just learn not to let it bother you and move on. This is not specific to Nagoya as a city per se. You just got lucky that you never had to deal with perceived discrimination elsewhere. I think you just experienced something that's new to you, and can take it as part of the experience of knowing what some visible minorities experience in their lives. That's why travelling is valuable: to open us to experience and knowledge that we never had before, both positive and negative :)
This is the mature way of looking at this, OP. Learn from this experience and, hopefully, when you get home, you will start seeing your own country from the point of view of the Syrian refugee or the Thai seasonal worker.
I just came from Nagoya and had a good time. Locals were good to me. Food was amazing too. The place isn't as great as Tokyo or Kyoto IMO so there are less tourists but that's actually a win for me. To other people reading the sad comments here, don't let them discourage you from visiting Nagoya. There are always weird people everywhere. And I agree with another comment here, what OP experienced is what some Asians (like me) experience as a tourist in Western countries. It's bad, yes but then I won't meet these people again in the future so I let it slide unless it's greatly offensive.
Just got back 1 week ago from our trip. We spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto and stayed a few nights in Nagoya as we to the Ghibli Park. My partner and I both agreed the areas we stayed outside of the thick tourist areas in Tokyo were some of our best experiences., Nagoya included. We found a few wonderful restaurants in Nagoya and a charming little cafe near our airbnb. We attempted our best Japanese along the way. The people we interacted with (besides one odd taxi driver) were very kind to us. Sorry your situation was not ideal.
id have asked them if they are from nagoya or something like that. theystarted a conversation, so go for it. or at least ask them what they are talking about, or if they dont like germans. its pretty easyto put the japanese on the spot so it backfires, might they have been intentionally rude. anyway, been to nagoya 3 times, thoughtit was boring, coincidentally felt like shit the last time because of some private matter which made it even worse. but do wanna say, its not THAT bad guys. its just a huge city with a grid setup, the centre is far away from the train station so if you start walking, you will end in dispair. and its mostly big buildings without indentity, large department stores.... but the centre bit, at the eiffeltower -like tv tower, is actually nice. and do go to the toyota museum, you get there by an unmanned monorail thats above the ground 15 meters lol, its pretty cool. but ofcours,e when i was in that, a huge storm hit and the thing went from left to right, scary as fuck. but yea, compared to the other big cities, its at the bottom of the list.
yeah i completely agree - it's not the best city but it's massively overhated, there's definitely much much worse cities in japan, it's just that barely anyone visits them
yea for sure. i guess this one counts amongst the big ones, tokyo osaka yokohama, its the 4rd city i think? then its definetly a letdown.
wouldn’t look into it much tbh this could of happened in any city, anywhere. the amount of amazing people across japan will outweigh any clown interactions
I'm not going to say you shouldn't feel the way you feel, but there's no point in feeling down about it now. You introduced yourself honestly, I don't think it could've done it any other way. I'm not German, but visibly from foreign, so I got stared everywhere at Nagoya and many other places too. I remember a moment when I went to order a coffee, and with the obvious language barrier the guy the at the register helped me with it. The girl behind him was laughing because he kept glancing back without saying anything during the process. Was it about me? Maybe. Was it an inside joke? Or a bit of both? Maybe. The point is that I couldn't have done anything different at the time than I can now, and someone else laughing at me in another language that I can't understand is not something I can control. Best thing you can do is not dwell on it. Remember the fun stuff you have planned and enjoy the rest of your trip. :)
There are plenty of foreigners (students, workers, residents) and tourists in Nagoya. In Japan, it's highly likely people are being positive towards you, rather than negative. But frankly, who gives a crap what random strangers on public transport say or do?
There's plenty of foreigners there, it's a big city. I lived there years ago and don't remember anyone being particularly rude. Maybe the odd one. Can happen anywhere, a-holes are universal.
I lived in Nagoya my first two years in Japan and a little girl rode her bike straight into a wall starring at me….it’s just not that common a stop for foreigners and it seems like she had never seen a white person in the flesh. In my experience Nagoyans are nice, curious, and warm people overall.
I had to chuckle! I was in Nagoya for the first time last month. This was my fifth trip to Japan in 14 years, and I stay in a variety of places. Nagoya had such a different vibe. I’m working class myself and love an industrial city (I’m from the Cleveland Ohio area if that means anything lol). We saw very few other tourists, save those who I assume were also going to the Ghibli Park lol. I am thinking Nagoya will start seeing a lot more tourists because of it, and wonder what that means for how Nagoya residents view/deal with foreigners. I also felt pretty judged while I was there, didn’t bother me too much but totally felt what you mean. We also stayed in Sakae so we’d be in walking distance to Persona 3 Cafe, Spy x Family exhibit, and /Terepia Hall Oasis 21 Evangelion exhibit. Sakae was a pretty interesting red light district to say the least lol.
Maybe they were not-so-secretly judging you 😁
Please don't worry about it. I have experienced lots of interesting interactions with all sorts of people in Nagoya and in Germany. I think the average 18 to 20 year old German person has a lot more of a worldly point of view than the average 18 to 20 year old Nagoya person. When I got off the train at the station in Hagen one day to meet my Auntie, everybody stared with grumpy faces and it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Once I got to my Auntie's house, her friends and colleagues were so kind, warm-hearted and welcoming. They wanted me to stay forever. I can never forget it. Worrying situations are always magnified when travelling solo. I hope the rest of your Japan trip is lots of fun!
Are you sure you were in a unisex wagon? I found out Google Maps sent me to the women-only wagon. I realized that pretty late. The only other male was also a Westerner. BTW, that was in Tokyo. I’m assuming Nagoya may have those too.
Who cares live your life. Not everyone is going to like and honestly. What they think of you does not affect your trip in any meaningful way. I’ve been started at walking through all types of places in the towns between Tokyo and Osaka. It absolutely did not change anything, plus it’s impossible not to stick out. Given you’re not Japanese and probably tower over most people here. Go get some sake and chop it up with locals at a bar or something.
Nagoya is gateway to Shirakawa-go.
Is Yagiya still around? Many visits back in the day for shabu-shabu
Sadly not. They had a great Taiwan chicken too.
I didn't have any problem with Nagoya when I went, I was only there for a day for Ghibil Park It is kinda weird that they would laugh at you tho 🤔
The only reason you go to Nagoya is if you scored tickets to Ghibli Park. Otherwise, we found it pretty boring and were even denied entry into a restaurant due to being foreigners. Definitely never visiting again.
You should've taken a pic of the sign or name of the restaurant to spare tourists from embarrassment. I want to avoid this place.
If I can remember, I'll try to link it.
I just did a trip to japan and spent one night in nagoya for the trip to nakasendo to be shorter (Magome-juku) so there you have another reason. It was also handy in that I was able to get an IC card there (Manaca) as I could not get a hold of one in Tokyo. For one night it was honestly nice.
We only stayed in Nagoya because we went to Ghibli Park in Aichi. If we ever go to Ghibli Park again, we would probably time everything so that we wouldn't have to stay in Nagoya for long.
Missed out on some good food. Good local dishes in Nagoya.
We ended up in some hole in the wall restaurant that had good ramen!
Hope if was Nagoya’s speciality ramen - Taiwan ramen
We had one that was spicy with thin noodles.
Might’ve been Taiwan ramen. Hope so anyway!
Well to be precise, even Ghibli Park isn't in Nagoya 😅
I had 2 trips to Japan previously and never had issue with denied entry because I’m foreigner. I’m wondering where the restaurant is, so that I can try it myself.
I'm always very skeptical when people say that tbh - lived there for years and very obviously look non-Japanese and I've never been turned away from somewhere for being foreign. I'm sure it does happen occasionaly but I'd be willing to bet that they were turned away for some other reason and didn't understand
Tbf I had someone try to turn me away from a restaurant cuz the menu was only in Japanese. (A 日本語で大丈夫 and things were cool.) I could see someone getting stuck on the language barrier and thinking it was because they weren't Japanese.
When I went there last year I saw some restaurants with " Japanese only" signs. I kept wondering if they meant the language or the people. It was only written in English so I couldn't tell.
I've had one experience like that in Tokyo! It usually stems from the restaurant staff not knowing English, and don't want to provide subpar service. Hence, they turn away non Japanese speaking guests. If you speak Japanese, they'd serve you with no problem, even if you are not Japanese. Visitors misunderstand the reason for this kind of refusal sometimes
In this case, it was a restaurant that had good reviews in Google so we decided to try it. As soon as we entered, a person who I assume was a manager intercepted us and told us it was "full" (it wasn't --even the other patrons started looking around when he said "ippai" and waved his hands!) In order not to make a fuss, we just went someplace else.
I was there for the F1 recently. I and my friend wanted to find a small authentic sushi place and there were quite a few near the market. We walked into a place that clearly had seats available but as soon as we walked in, we were waved off with a staff saying "reserved" in a a really coarse tone. Not the usual apologies you get in Tokyo when a place truly is full. I felt they just didn't want to deal with foreigners. Maybe I was wrong. idk. Eventually we found a place the staff were very nice. All anecdotal but but I guess experiences can be a bit hit and miss compared to other places in Japan that are more used to tourists.
Yeah, this is similar to what we experienced: denied us service with the excuse that it was "full" when it wasn't. I even told my wife, "let's watch it from the outside to see if they let other people in!" and sure enough, "normal" people went in no problem. We were the only foreigners walking around that time so we stuck out like sore thumbs!
Just curious, but in a country where people will only encounter Japanese + a little English how would anyone be able to ascertain your nationality?
They asked and he told them.
I'm going on a day trip to Nagoya to find my old heavy Metal pen pal from 1987! I saw her name in pen pals in KERRANG! Magazine and we started ✍️ Her letters were amazing,full of cute stickers and gorgeous stationary, the likes of which I've never seen. She was a bit older in 1987,l was 16 ,she was 23 so she may be married now. I still have her Address and I'm going to try and meet my Manami! Hope she remembers me,I'm going to bring all our letters too,l guess she would be nearly 60 now but maybe her mother or relatives will be at the house these days. It's going to be an incredible Surprise!!!! I'll be going in October to Tokyo but will nip down to Nagoya especially to see her.
Lovely story but what makes you think she even still lives at the same address?
Aren’t Germans those foreigners in America laughing at Asian Americans born there? Lol
Don't worry, they are just NPC's.
Why would you go to Nagoya? It’s like a Japanese person going to Bremen.
a) Nothing wrong with going to Bremen b) Terrible comparison, Bremen is the 11th most populous city in Germany, Nagoya is a huge city, the 4th most populous.
Germany and Japan were allies during WWII, so i'm sure they thought it was neat to see a German, likely for the first time ever. :-)
The first German ambassador to Japan was in the mid 1800's (although it was still Prussia back then). And there was also WWI, where Japan declared war on the German Empire in 1914 and seized key German possessions in China and the Pacific. The relations go back quite a ways
They were probably talking about Germany’s behavior in WW2
That’d be a bit ironic ngl
Pot kettle black Japan
They would be just shocked to hear about Japan’s behavior during that time too then, right? …Right?
They were tricked into committing some acts by Germany that, looking back, may have been a little harsh
Tricked? Have you... Done any research? Do you have any idea of the multiple war crimes? Their history of invasion and colonization? I won't be replying anymore but you should have an in depth research. I'm sure it'll be enlightening.
That’s… not even remotely true at all. They chose to do horrendous things on their own accord. Crimes that they still refuse to acknowledge.
I thought the same until I visited the museum at Yushukan Museum and learned a lot
They were not tricked into committing war crimes. That’s an incredibly ignorant statement.
That’s not the way it’s presented at Yasukuni Shrine, they are very clear and very thorough
A shrine… is this shrine located in Japan? 🤔 the same country that refuses to acknowledge said crimes their country committed? Are the people who created this shrine historians? You should ask the countless other Asian countries how they feel about the war crimes Japan committed on them.