Chocolate Exhibition: the Story of Chocolate

Japanese Required: Moderate
Cost: 1300 yen for adults, 800 for students (cost of seeing the rest of the science museum is included)
Good for: Single people, couples, small groups

The Chocolate Exhibition was a temporary exhibit at the Nagoya City Science Museum that I managed to visit. I got a warning from one of the staff that let me into the exhibit that I could only walk in once: once I left the exhibit itself, I was out. The exhibit held a lot of different things for people to look at, and I enjoyed the many visual displays that ranged from actual, old items to pictures and text passages explaining what everything was (in Japanese). The history of chocolate was written in the passages, but even if you can't read Japanese, the exhibit an enjoyable trip. There were a few things that were designed to entertain children, but they came near the end of the exhibition.

While I enjoyed the exhibit, there was only one path. Because it was a bit crowded when I got there, I ended up feeling a bit pressured by the people behind me and slowed down by the people in front of me. This made it harder to get pictures, but I still got ones of the more interesting things. The fact that chocolate was mainly used as a drink, and the different cultures drinking it had special cups for them, was surprising. I almost always think of chocolate as a food first and a drink second. Some of the cups were very beautifully designed and reminded me of seto ware.

 

The exhibit didn't just have old cups and tools, though. There were also sculptures made of chocolate! Each of the animals in the sculpture above was made using a different type of chocolate. The vibrant and realistic coloration surprised me. There were other sculptures on displayed as well, and all of them were truly works of art with different styles. The different colors were probably made using different cacao beans. Cacao beans have an impressive range of colors, sizes, and textures. Some of them could fit easily in my palm while others were bigger than my hand.

 

The entire experience of the exhibit was one of the funnest I've had. Despite the fairly large number of people, I got to see everything in the exhibit as well as take pictures of the fascinating stuff. The end of the exhibit actually had a souvenir shop of sorts where they sold a large variety actual chocolate as well as a number of chocolate-based key-chains, pencils, and other paraphernalia. I would definitely recommend seeing this to anyone that has the opportunity. It's mostly suited for couples or people who are alone, and it is too small to fit a group of more than four and still have it be a group experience.

Quality of life: Manaca

In Japan, having a manaca saves time, energy, and money. The manaca card is an electronic charge card that can be used for trains (Jr and Meitetsu), subway, city bus, and the yutorito line. It can also be used at convenience stores, vending machines, and some restaurants. I mostly use mine for transportation.

With a manaca, I can just walk directly through the wicket (turnstile). This makes my travel time very consistent, whereas having to buy a ticket can mean that I end up waiting upwards of twenty minutes in line if I'm at a particularly busy station. In addition to this, using a manaca gathers points based off of distance traveled. The points can then be used to pay for subway travel rather than using actual money. My friend K told me she saves roughly 800-1200 yen a month off of the points she gets from her manaca. Because of the savings on time and money, it's worth it to pay the cost of getting a card (it's 500 to get the card, no other payments necessary).

I, on the other hand, bought an all line subway and city bus pass that does not gather points.  I pay a fee (with the amount varying depending on the duration of the pass) to be able to travel along any subway line or on the bus for free without recharging my card. The duration of the pass can be as short as one month or as long as six. You can choose to have a train pass or a subway and city bus pass.  Because I travel around Nagoya almost every day, this saves me 30% on travel. The student all line pass costs 9,990 yen for one month, including the bus. The regular all line pass costs 15,990, with an additional 2,000 yen for a bus pass.

Another advantage of using the manaca is that it simplifies riding the city bus. When you ride the bus, you always have to pay with exact change. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if not for the fact the automated change machine on the bus only gives change for 1000 yen bills. If you don't have exact change or 1000 yen, then you're stuck having to explain the situation in Japanese to the driver rather than simply getting off the bus. With a manaca, the money is taken directly from whatever you have on it, so you never have to worry about having the amount ready: even if you're out of charge, you can charge it on the bus.

The manaca is truly an all-purpose, convenient card to have. I would definitely recommend getting one to anybody who plans to stay in Japan for a lengthy period of time. It saves money, it saves time, and it streamlines travel.

Atsuta Shrine: Famous for a reason

Japanese required: Moderate
Cost: Transportation
Good for: Everyone

Atsuta Shrine is an expansive place with a lot of beautiful things - both natural and man-made. I've been there several times, both with friends and alone, and they were very relaxing trips. One entrance to the shrine is located just outside of Jingumae station. The entire shrine is dotted with different places that are considered sacred, which range from being special trees to actual man made prayer spots to honor certain deities.

The gates leading to the main shrine are impressive in size, but the most interesting things are on the way to the main section. One of these things is a majestic tree. The tree itself has been around for a really long time, and priests used to feed eggs to snakes that lived in the upper branches. The tree has a very old feel about it, which adds to the sense of calm that the entire shrine has. In addition to the tree, a member of the group I went with explained that a bridge we saw was actually one of the oldest in Nagoya. The bridge itself wasn't much to look at, but the history of the location made it a good place to take a picture.

The place has a large number of trees and other plants which fill all the space not taken up by path or buildings. This created the feeling of being completely and totally immersed in the shrine itself - as if I had left Japan behind. There were practically no sounds aside from people walking and softly talking, and even children that were brought to the shrine were quiet. To add to the feeling of timelessness, there were stone lanterns in different places that looked as if they had been in the shrine for hundreds of years.

I'd say Atsuta Shrine has one of the best atmospheres out of all the temples and shrines that I've visited. It's definitely a place that I would recommend to everyone that visits Nagoya. It's a pleasant and relaxing walk, which makes it good for small groups or going alone. There's even a cafe to stop at for a small snack or some coffee.

A restaurant for specific tastes: Bistrot Labourer

Japanese Required: A lot
Cost:  2000 or more per person
Good for: Single people, couples, small groups

Bistrot Labourer is a restaurant near Jingumae station. The restaurant is a bit out of the way, but it is very cozy. It had enough space to intimately seat roughly twenty people and then seating for another five people at the bar. I went with a group of friends. The restaurant had three lunch sets: hamburger with miso sauce, fried oyster, and an omelet filled with rice (called omuraisu). I had never had omuraisu, so I went with that. All of the lunch sets came with a salad and corn soup, and the first two options also had bread or rice as a side. The omuraisu came with a desert instead (vanilla ice cream).

Taken from Bistrot's website

The omuraisu was pretty good at first, but the novelty wasn't enough to enjoy the dish. The experience of egg, rice, and ketchup together gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I liked the rice's texture and taste. On the other hand, I feel that the flavor of the ketchup overpowered the flavor of the egg, and I prefer the taste of egg. While this isn't something I'd eat again if I had other options, I'd say it's worth trying if you like egg and ketchup. The ice cream was soft enough to eat easily with a spoon without dripping everywhere. A few of my friends had the fried oysters, and they looked rather good. If I were to go again, I'd probably go for the oysters.

The restaurant had an overall pleasant atmosphere. Everyone was talking and laughing, and the servers were very nice. I would probably go there again for lunch if I was in the area with a couple of friends. It seems to be a very local-only restaurant, so I doubt it gets particularly busy in the afternoon. For anybody interested in visiting Bistrot Labourer, more information can be found in their website: http://www.nagoya-labourer.jp/

Inuyama Ukai: Night Fishing

Japanese Required: Moderate

Inuyama is quaint castle village and a prime example of old school Japan. While I haven’t yet made it to the castle, I have visited Inuyama several times and always with a group of different friends with different interests. I ride the meitetsu to Inuyama from Kanayama which costs 1180 yen round trip. A word of warning: the meitetsu can be very confusing, even if you understand Japanese. Always make sure to remember the time and platform number of your train. I have forgotten to do this and ended up getting on a train headed the opposite direction from my destination. This trip, I met up with a large group of friends and we wandered the streets of Inuyama before heading over to the docks.

The closer you are to the castle entrance, the more novelty shops you’ll find. The streets of Inuyama are wide and all look pretty much the same, so I suggest going with at least one person that can read Kanji or has been there before. It's a good thing I like to roam around because it is fairly easy to get lost. Getting lost in Inuyama is half the fun: it is so small that it is next to impossible to stay lost for long. If all else fails, you can always find your way back to the castle information center and ask for a map. They don’t speak any English but are quite used to lost foreigners.

Using the map and my powers of navigation, I was able to find my way to the dock in plenty of time to catch our boat. Ukai is cormorant fishing, a traditional Japanese fishing method. The ukai viewing requires reservation, and each boat seats about 16 people. The boats are spacious and allowed us to talk amongst ourselves quite comfortably as we headed out to the fishing spot. We spent around five to ten minutes just riding in the boat and looking at Inuyama's night-time lighting before we actually arrived.

 When we arrived at the fishing spot, I was very excited at the thought of seeing the birds dramatically swooping and diving to catch large amounts of fish. I was surprised that it was actually very calm and not visually dynamic. The torches lit up the area over the water, but I could not see the birds once they dove. The closer you are to the boat, the easier it is to see the birds deliver the fish they have caught.


 

It was a very relaxing and an enjoyable trip. While I’m not sure if I would go again, I definitely recommend the experience to anyone interested in learning about Japanese culture. Ukai fishing in Inuyama is a nice, comfortable cultural outing that makes you feel connected to old Japan.

Yokiso International Cultural Exchange

Japanese Required: A lot

At Yokiso, there's an annual international cultural exchange which involves a variety of different cultural performances that differs from year to year. When I went, there was a mix of Japanese and foreign people aside from my group of friends. The location was beautiful with many things worth viewing even without the cultural exchange. The first thing that we got to see was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

I enjoyed the ceremony a lot, and I ended up speaking with one of my Japanese friends quite a bit about the traditional ways of being a guest for a tea ceremony. He taught me a little bit of new information, but I knew most of the formalities already. After the tea was made, they served a small bowl of it to everyone. Along with the tea came some small sugar candies and a green tea rice cake filled with bean paste. The ceremony was pleasant, if surprisingly short.

After the ceremony, we got to watch a traditional Myanmar dance performed by two Japanese women. If I hadn't met one of the dancers on the way, I wouldn't have believed that they were actually Japanese. Their dancing was amazing, and I enjoyed the show the entire way through. It makes me a bit sad to think that the dancing changes from event to event, so I probably won't be able to see them again.

 I would definitely recommend going to one of these cultural exchange events to anybody looking to spend some time in a very gorgeous environment. The entire event is hosted in Japanese, so  going with someone who has done it before or understands Japanese would be a good idea. Overall, this was one of the best outings I have done in my time in Japan.

Higashiyama Zoo: A Time Commitment

 

 

Japanese Required: A little

Good for: Everyone

The Higashiyama Zoo is huge, and it has exhibits for fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. To look at all of them took me several hours (mostly spent standing up), but it was a very enjoyable experience.The most interesting exhibits, for me, were the ones of the fish and reptiles. The birds weren't terribly interesting, but the rest of the exhibits had some animals that I liked.

Although zoos are not really known for fish exhibits, there were actually a few interesting ones. I managed to get a really great picture of a fish with an eye mark on its body, which I felt I should share even if the fish itself isn't that interesting. And then there were also fish whose fins actually changed colors while they were swimming. I have known about these kinds of fish for a while, but it was a first for me to actually see them in person. I really enjoyed staring at them for a couple of minutes just to see how many different shades they could change to. The fish exhibit area was set apart from everything else, and it was purely smaller fish. Overall, it took roughly ten minutes for to see all of them.

 

The reptile / amphibian area had crocodiles, lizards, frogs, snakes, and more. The majority of the animals in this area weren't very active when I saw them. Quite a few were hiding away under a rock or behind something and sleeping. This made it a lot harder to take pictures, but I managed to get some good pictures of the lizards (my favorite animal). I've always liked lizards the most out of all the animal kingdom. Their intelligence, the way they move, everything about them fascinates me. Particularly interesting to me are the monitor lizards. Monitors are the most intelligent of the lizard species, and there's quite a bit of variety even within this subset. The zoo only had one type of monitor, but I quite liked their coloration.

Lizards aside, there were several types of frogs as well, including a poison dart frog. Although there was an entire section devoted to frogs, it was actually a bit difficult to find many of them. So many of them were difficult to see that I actually ended up making a game out of it just to avoid being frustrated. I actually gave up on even looking for them after the third failed attempt. To make myself feel better, I went back to the other amphibian sections and took a picture of a newt waving at me.

Newts, frogs, and lizards aside, the displays also had a few types of giant salamanders, crocodiles, some turtles, and a few toads. The most amusing thing for me in the entire zoo was the crocodile exhibit. There was a Japanese crocodile in a cage that looked rather small, and in a cage right next to it was one from America that was at least twice as large. The sheer difference in size really displayed just how a difference in environment can lead to drastic changes in even the least changing type of animal that I can think of.

About ten minutes' walk across the zoo from all of this, there are large and small cats, birds, koalas, and some other animals. The birds had a bald eagle, a few cranes, and some other varieties. The large cats included a jaguar, a couple of small tigers, a female lion, and a snow leopard. The snow leopard was the only one that really moved around in a way that it was possible to take a picture. The majority of the caged animals stayed near the back or zipped about their enclosure with wild energy. I haven't seen many snow leopards, so it was nice to get a close up view of one.

Personally, I find koalas to be very boring, but I know that a lot of people like them. The koalas had their own building, and they got to sit in their trees doing basically nothing while a rather sizable number of people stared at them in fascination. So, for all of you koala lovers, I took a picture.

Overall, the Higashiyama Zoo is a great place to go, but expect to be out and walking for the better part of your day if you want to see everything it has to offer. The place has rhinos, elephants, penguins, birds, monkeys, reptiles, amphibians, fish, lions, tigers, and bears. You'll be there a while, but don't worry. There are places to buy food and take a rest. If you plan to go to the botanical garden and other places in Higashiyama Park, expect it to take all day. I didn't even go to those places and still took more than three hours with just the zoo.

SCMaglev and Railway Park: About the Trains!

Japanese required: Some (To get in takes some Japanese, but little to no Japanese is required while inside)
Cost: 1000 yen for adults, 500 for children (elementary school to high school), 200 yen for children (ages 3 and below), with separate, discounted rates for groups.
Good for:  Everyone

The SCMaglev and Railway Park is more of a museum for trains than a park. The park is located a bit out of the way at Kinjō-futō station, roughly 25 minutes from Nagoya station by train. Despite it's location, the railway park is definitely worth visiting on a day when you feel like going out but don't have anywhere in mind to go. The place is mostly suited to people who like science museums and trains, since there are many similar displays.

I found the place very easily thanks to a bunch of signs at the station, and it's a very short walk. Even though I'm not particularly interested in trains, I had a lot of fun at different exhibits, and I even got to relax and sit inside some of the trains. There were a lot of different train models on display, including both very old and very new designs. There was also a children's play area and a place to buy Japanese food and snacks on the second floor. The food place had some uncomfortable plastic chairs to sit in, but there are several places to relax in soft, reclining train chairs on the second floor as well.

While I walked around, I got to see even some trains that looked like they were old enough to be powered by boilers rather than electricity. I have always found the look of old trains to be very interesting, so these were my favorite displays. An interesting difference that can be seen when looking at modern and older designs is that older trains tend to be darker colors (black, usually) while trains are commonly white or other bright colors these days.

Although most of the trains were on display inside the building, there were two trains outside (one just the conductor's box, the other a full modern train). Although the older train couldn't be entered, there was a ramp leading inside the other. There were even several Japanese people sitting down in the train seats and resting or sleeping. I took some time inside the train to relax as well as soon as I found out that the train cars had working air conditioning! The museum's not hot, but having cool air blowing on top of me was still refreshing.

I found the trip to the museum to also be very educational, since there were many electronic displays explaining how trains worked. Many of these displays were interactive, indicating in English and Japanese to push a button or pull a lever. Some of the exhibits even had English explanations of what was going on. The most interesting ones explained how the newest train design (SCMaglev) actually used magnetism to levitate the train and propel it forward rather than using traditional train tracks. There was a small portion of this exhibit where anyone could spin a lever and cause a model train to simulate the levitation of a real train. The concept of a train moving at super high speeds using only magnets to keep it going was both a scary and exciting one. It definitely made me want to try riding in a SCMaglev train at least once in my life.

In addition to all of this, there was a possibility for me to win a lottery and get to try a train driving simulator. I unfortunately didn't win the lottery, but you might be lucky if you go (keep in mind that doing this costs an extra 500 yen for 15 minutes). I did get to see the simulator, and it seemed to be pretty realistic, if a bit less dangerous. If you've ever wanted to try driving a train without having to go through all of the training, this is probably your best shot.

I had a really great time at the park and would definitely recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in looking at life-sized train models or finding out about some of the mechanical operations of trains.