7 Reasons Osu Kannon Temple Deserves a Full Day Visit
You've blocked out a full day for Osu Kannon — but somewhere between researching temple visit timings and trying to work out which street leads where, a nagging question surfaces: If I spend the morning exploring, will the dish I traveled here specifically to eat already be gone by the time I sit down for […]
10 Facts About Osu District That Even Locals Sometimes Miss
You've done Kyoto. You've done Tokyo. You've done Osaka — twice. And now you're standing in Nagoya with a full day ahead, a well-worn Japan travel journal in hand, and a nagging feeling that the guidebook in your pocket is going to send you somewhere a thousand other tourists visited yesterday. Sound familiar? Repeat visitors […]
7 Reasons Solo Travelers Love Nagoya's Food Scene
You have been planning this Japan trip for months. The Shinkansen ticket is booked, the hotel is sorted, and your itinerary is packed with temples, castles, and street food. But somewhere between the excitement and the research, a nagging question keeps surfacing: Is eating rare wagyu actually safe? My country's food authority would never allow […]
Is Rare Beef Really Safe in Japan?
You've done your research, you've saved the pin on Google Maps, and you're genuinely excited for what might be the most memorable lunch of your Japan trip. Then you step out of the station into Osu — and the streets look nothing like what you expected. Narrow covered arcades branch off in every direction, signage […]
Why Osu Beats Sakae for International Travelers
A guest stopped by recently — a couple from Hong Kong on their seventh trip to Japan — and said something that stuck with me. "We've done Kyoto three times. Tokyo four times. This time we told ourselves: no guidebooks." They had spent the morning wandering through Osu with no plan, stumbled in through our […]
What Must I Eat in Nagoya as a First-Time Foreign Visitor?
Here's something most first-time visitors to Nagoya don't realize: over 60% of foreign travelers who pass through this city spend less than half a day here — and leave without eating a single dish that's actually from Nagoya. They grab something near Nagoya Station, hop back on the Shinkansen, and move on. That's a significant […]
The Complete Nagoya Travel Guide With Itadaki Lunch Stop
You've mapped out your Nagoya itinerary down to the minute. Nagoya Castle in the morning, a stroll through Osu shopping street in the afternoon, and — somewhere in between — lunch at Itadaki, the restaurant you've been reading about since you started planning this trip. But there's one thought that keeps coming back: What if […]
Where Should I Eat Lunch on Osu Shopping Street Nagoya?
The short answer: if you're walking Osu Shopping Street and want a lunch you'll be talking about long after you leave Japan, head to Itadaki on the second floor of 4-1-20 Osu. It's a four-minute walk from Yabacho Station, and it's the only place in the world serving what we call the Original Rare Wagyu […]
What Makes Osu Shopping Street Nagoya's Most Iconic District?
You've pulled up Google Maps, typed in "Osu Shopping Street," and started walking — only to find yourself at the entrance of a covered arcade with no clear sense of what's inside, which direction to head, or how long you'll be wandering. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Osu is one of Nagoya's most […]
When You Book Itadaki, You Reserve More Than Just a Meal
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a group of visitors from Singapore who had just finished their lunch at Itadaki. One of them pulled out her phone and showed me the photo she'd taken of her bowl — the deep-red wagyu fanned over white rice, the golden egg yolk sitting on top, the […]