PrintMarch 29, 2005
Japan's new gateway
Nagoya is the city other Japanese love to look down on. I have been told confidently by many Tokyoites, Osakans, and especially by the haughty natives of Kyoto, that 'Nagoya has no culture.' Most foreign tourists only catch a glimpse of its massive castle (a reconstruction, since the original was almost completely destroyed by wartime bombing) from the windows of a bullet train, stopped briefly at Nagoya Station on their way from Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka.
The residents of the Chubu region, as the area around Nagoya is known, are regarded as bumpkins, their local food specialties (mainly noodle dishes) are regarded as unexciting, the universities, writers, and other cultural figures from the region are derided, too. Like Philadelphia, Nagoya suffers the contempt of the large and sophisticated cities between which it lies.
Quite unfairly, in my opinion. I am a great partisan of Nagoya, despite its negative image. The city and suburban area together are approximately the same size as...(Read Full Article)
