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New Year’s Eve at Toyokawa and Nagoya

Today is New Year’s Eve! After breakfast at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, we visited 妙厳寺 Myōgon-ji, more commonly known as 豊川稲荷 Toyokawa Inari, in 豊川 Toyokawa to the southeast of Nagoya. We returned to Nagoya in the afternoon and visited 大須 Osu, the shopping district around 大須観音 Osu Kannon and 万松寺 Banshō-ji. We had a late lunch and lots of snacks before returning to the Marriott to end the last day of the year.

After breakfast at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, we ventured south to visit the 伊勢神宮 Ise Jingu, the holiest of all the Shinto shrines. We visited both the 内宮 Naiku and 外宮 Gekū and also spent some time having snacks and lunch before returning to Nagoya for dinner.

After breakfast at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, we headed out to visit 名古屋城 Nagoya Castle… which was closed for the Japanese New Year holiday! We ended up walking around it before having the local 味噌煮込みうどん miso nikomi udon for lunch nearby at 山本屋 Yamamoto-ya. We then visited 熱田神宮 Atsuta-jingu before spending the rest of the afternoon and evening around the 栄 Sakae district and オアシス２１ (Oasis 21). We had dinner in the area at 矢場とん Yabaton, a local chain that specializes in the local 味噌カツ miso katsu dish.

After checking out of the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport in the morning, we took the Shinkansen from Shinagawa Station to Nagoya Station and left our bags at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel. We then took the train down to 常滑市 Tokoname, one of Japan’s 六古窯 Six Ancient Kilns. We walked around this historic town, browsed some of the pottery shops, and bought a tea pot before returning to Nagoya.

Our last full day in Kyushu! After breakfast at the 長崎マリオット Nagasaki Marriott, we took the train over to 島原 Shimabara and visited 島原城 Shimabara Castle. After lunch, we visited the town’s historic 武家屋敷 samurai residences and its streets lined with natural spring water canals, which is a bit of an odd description! After a snack at the over 100 year old 銀水 Ginsui, we returned to Nagasaki for dinner.