Station near Nagoya Castle gets name change to ease visitor confusion

At a ceremony to unveil a special sign made from Japanese cypress bearing the newly-minted Nagoya Castle name, Mayor Takashi Kawamura described the building as a "treasure" for the residents of Nagoya and said he hopes the change will "create new excitement."

The city government intends to rebuild the castle's keep in its original wooden structure as the current edifice, made in 1959 from steel reinforced concrete following its destruction in World War II air raids, is closed to the public over issues with its age and earthquake resistance.

What am I missing here? An article about name changes to the railway stations, and then?????

The second half deserves it's own article!

What am I missing here? An article about name changes to the railway stations, and then????

It is common practice in Journalism to give the reader more information about the topic.

The second half deserves it's own article!

The Japanese press has been covering the issue with accessibility for the last three years.

Soooo.....what are the new names of the three other stations??

Soooo.....what are the new names of the three other stations??

Atsuta Jingu Tenma Cho, Atsuta Jingu Nishi and Taikodori.

Thanks, rainyday. You should be writing these articles : )

Great move. I never quite got it why Nagoya is so underrated.

It's a big city that has everything you can find in Tokyo and Osaka in a smaller scale.

You can move around the whole city riding your bicycle on the wide walkways.

International Center is huge and the foreign community is somewhat united (just like the smaller japanese capitals, you kind of get to know who's moving in, who's leaving etc.), your cell phone wont stop ringing with home party invitations from the community.

Would definitely swap Tokyo for Nagoya in a heartbeat.

It's just a shame most foreigners never get the chance to live in these smaller japanese capitals, especially those kind of "isolated" ones (Ehime, Toyama, Yamaguchi) where everything revolves around there and you truly feel connected to your city. Nagoya is big, but its no exception.

Thanks, rainyday. You should be writing these articles : )

Thanks, I take that train regularly so I’ve been seeing signs announcing the changes for months now!

Great move. I never quite got it why Nagoya is so underrated.

I’ve been a Nagoya resident for over a decade and I think its mainly because for a city of its size (its almost the same size as Osaka and way bigger than other regional centers) it doesn’t have many drawing cards.

The castle is definitely getting better with recent improvements, but is pretty bland compared to other big ones. Atsuta shrine is not worth coming to Nagoya for. The city has no other historical sites. Or natural sites, the grey urban sprawl surrounding it stretches out even further than Osaka’s. The ocean side around the port is so polluted it literally looks rust colored when viewed in satellite images.

The shopping area around Osu, Yaba Cho and Sakae is really great, but not much different from what other major cities have (and way less than what Tokyo or Osaka have).

Its not a bad city to live in, but I understand why most tourists give it a pass.

It may be possible to retro fit a decent sized lift into the design. Not all spaces within it need to be accessible to the public - I'm sure some rooms will be used for admin and for safety and cleaning equipment. There will have to be some modern fire safety systems/extinguishers as the building will be subject to modern regulations for insurance purposes. Fake doors that don't open could hide the lift structure. There are modern pneumatic lifts that don't need much ancillary equipment and are quiet in operation.

They will probably retain the fire escape (is it a fire escape, stuck out on one side?). It's not decorative and it isn't easy taking photos that avoid both it and the sun's glare.

The name change is understandable, although all the guide books, blogs and YT videos directed people to the appropriate station, and they are all now wrong. Adding 'For Nagoya Castle' (in multiple languages) should have been fine for most tourists and it probably already said that.

From memory, Nagoya station itself could use a few signage tweaks, if only because it is so large - Some moving walkways would be good too. Sometimes it isn't that there isn't enough signage, but that it isn't designed as well as it might be. Exit signs are often difficult to find and there can be too many similar signs. Use of colour, size, grouping and font is important in complex buildings.

Nagoya gets a bad press but I liked it, luckily visiting before the SKE48 café closed. The Ninjas in the Castle grounds are very popular. The railway museum is worth the extra mileage. The metro needs work though - the Higashiyama Line was more sardine-like than Tokyo (and that was out of the tourist season), and the rolling stock was getting on a bit.

I live in Nagoya and I've often had non-Japanese friends assume it's some rural backwater because it's not really famous for anything. They're quite shocked to hear it's Japan's fourth most populous city. Didn't Lonely Planet once dismiss it in a single sentence as "a pleasant couple of hours if you want to stop between Tokyo and Kyoto"? It's great news if they're finally starting to address this.

This is an amazing article. Thank JT. ; - ((

Such a great article JT. Thank you! I’m going to share it with all my friends in Japan.

Nagoya is a nice city, but on a plain, so there aren't much in the way of natural surroundings. The food is delicious though, with some great local delicacies. I don't really think I would would want to live there, but I have enjoyed visits I've made there in the past.

The food is delicious though

In a country where the quality of the food is more or less the same everywhere, albeit with regional differences in flavor, etc, this is usually just code for “I can’t think of anything nice to say about the place”.

Same with “The people are friendly there”.

"But a plan to install a small elevator that provides only limited wheelchair access has stirred controversy over full accessibility.

Mayor Kawamura subsequently told reporters the city government will not change its plans. Seeking restoration "faithful to historical fact," he had initially said the city would restore the keep without elevators."

Another fine Japanese politician who so deeply cares about the needs of his most vulnerable constituents.

FYI, he's a nationalistic, war-crime-denying, kinda pervy, moron. (Remember the gold-medal-biting incident?)