Taking a break in Nagoya

I was in Nagoya for a couple of days, and it was so refreshing after having been in Tokyo for so long.  Tokyo I think is a very interesting place, jam packed with people and  tourist attractions.  I’m sure those who live in the city find a lot of charm in their neighborhood, and many good places to spend their time.  But for me, Tokyo is not terribly exciting.  I think my favorite thing about Tokyo is simply people watching (I recommend the bird’s eye view from Starbucks of the famous Shibuya crosswalk).  I enjoy the novelty of it when I visit, but of all of the towns and cities in Japan that I have visited, Tokyo is probably where I would least want to live.  Compared to Tokyo, Nagoya is very relaxed, and people seem to mosey rather than the eternal rush Tokyo people seem to be in.

In Nagoya, most people stand on escalators, and there are even signs specifically telling you not to run on the escalators.  That wouldn’t fly in Osaka, let alone Tokyo.  Also, Nagoya has an interesting coffee breakfast culture.  In Nagoya coffee shops, you go to purchase a drink like coffee, tea, or café au lait and it will be accompanied by toast at the least or a breakfast set at the most.  Oh, and did I mention that Nagoya is much less expensive than Tokyo? Yeah, that was a relief.

So I’ve been catching up with my good friend Risa who lives in Nagoya, and she has been nice enough to let me stay are her place.  We did so many nostalgic things together, such as went to Izakaya, went to Oasis 21, shopped at Rote Rosa & El Rodeo, ate at Kushiya, went to Karaoke (they even now have a Maneki Neko in Nagoya, newly opened! Bara, I used your card & signed as you! Thanks!) and took purikura.

We went shopping in a few used clothing stores (古着屋) , which was great.  I bought a cute striped long sleeve shirt in of them, a store called さぼてん (Saboten).  This store was great, and the selection was discriminating and well organized.  I was also impressed with this store  because they reuse all their tags rather than wasting any square of paper. When I made my purchase they popped the tag off and neatly added it to a rubber-banded stack of tags for the same amount.  I could probably write an entire post just about the recycling here.