Come to Nagoya

He drinks their blood when the sun goes down...

He drinks their blood when the sun goes down...

LOL!!!!!!!

brilliant!!!!

Seriously though- I hated Nagoya when I went there. My experience was that the locals were extremely unfriendly. LOVED Sapporo. Friendliest people ever and the food was delicious.

@ aly  My experience was that the locals were extremely unfriendly. LOVED Sapporo. Friendliest people ever and the food was delicious.

True about Hokkaido. Great food ! People so beautiful.

Nagoya has a different feel, for sure - I lived there for a bit and met many good people.

No need to bash the Ojisan. He probably didn't come up with this photo op idea in the first place. But man, those girls must be freezing!

He's done well in Nagoya, I gather. A tax cutter. A good man.

Those smiles seem forced, you can kind of tell the girls are freezing!

Nagoya is an awesome city.

And there are some great places to go in Sakae! The Rock is always a good gaijin-friendly spot, but have been to a lot of cool little dives / locals that are awesome if you are a J speaker.

Nagoya is OK but fairly boring. Ditto to the comments about Sapporo and Hokkaido. Lovely places.

Nagoya is a good city. Great food and cool people. Its more like a Midwestern American city, Its business is business It is home to a lot leading Japanese companies i,e, Toyota and Mitsubishi.

expat, I don't think the mayor is part of the campaign but likely he was there for the announcement of the start of the campaign to promote the entertainment area.

@joe

its actually the other way around.. more restaurants and activities are moving towards Sakae.. property value is rising.. Yes new buildings and shops are opening around Nagoya.. but nightlife and entertainment is Sakae.. live house venues.. etc

Nagoya doesn't do a good job of marketing itself.

On a clear day in the winter the city is surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains that you can see even from downtown (not on the street, but from elevated places with unobstructed views). And in those mountains in addition to the spectacular nature of the Japan Alps you've got some of the best preserved Edo era villages to be found anywhere in Japan. All at Nagoya's doorstep.

But promotional material about Nagoya basically just tells us exciting statistics about how many ships use its port facilities and how efficient the highway system is.

It drives me mad. Its not a bad city at all.

Good for Mayor Kawamura for fronting the picture. I like the pylon in the background. It sends the right message - "Authentic". I'll be back..

Good for Mayor Kawamura for fronting the picture. I like the pylon in the background. It sends the right message - "Authentic". I'll be back..

The "Pylon" in the background is actually Nagoya Tower, one of the city's main landmarks. The photo is taken from Oasis21 in Sakae.

Lucky man!

SKE 48's outfits not great.  Must try Nagoya again sometime.

But man, those girls must be freezing!

nothing is too extreme when it comes to the power of Kawaii

Four pretty girls and a frog! Obviously no one wanted to kiss him to see if he turned in to a handsome prince!

Those girls look completely average to me. How on earth did they manage to get into an esteemed pop group.

Saw a video clip of this and yes they must have been freezing. Come to think of it the Mayor looks none to warm himself, sort of apologetic for wearing more?

Yes, yes, yes, Good eeeeeeevening, and yes!

@thepersoniamnow

Those girls look completely average to me. How on earth did they manage to get into an esteemed pop group.

SKE48 is NOT an esteemed pop group. None of AKB groups are.

That pic looks wrong on several levels