Noritake Garden
This is the birthplace of Noritake, a western tableware brand highly acclaimed globally. The park is a lush green space to relax in, with stores, cafes, restaurants, and a museum.
It's right next to Nagoya Station. There's a creative market and a huge lawn, plus the Toyota Museum is nearby, so you can easily visit both.
Atami Sun Beach
This beach is a swimmers’ favorite in summer with a dozen firework shows above the ocean. The shore is lined with palm trees along 400m with the beautiful white sand against the blue sky and the waves are calm in the shoal. You will fall in love with this exotic-looking beach.
The fireworks festival over the ocean is so colorful and dazzling! Really eye-catching!
Sakura Furusato Square
It is a flower garden that welcomes you with its seasonal flowers, such as tulips in spring, sunflowers in summer, and cosmos in autumn. In the center of the garden, there is a symbolic windmill which actually spins with wind power.
The first time I saw so many tulips and a Dutch windmill was at Huis Ten Bosch in Kyushu, but this place is just as impressive.
Kamigamo Shrine (Kamowakeikazuchi Shrine)
In ancient times, Kamowakeikazuchi-no-okami, the god of the shrine, descended to the mountain northwest of the main shrine, and the Kamo clan, a powerful local family, built a shrine building in 678, and it is the oldest shrine in Kyoto.
There's a lively handmade market held here once a month.
Byodoin
An imperial authority in the Heian Period, Fujiwara Michinaga used this place as a vacation home. His son Yorimichi inherited, converted and opened it as a temple in 1052. It was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1994. The remodeling in 2014 brought it back closer to its original state. The main Amida Buddha statue in Amida Hall is worth a look. You will be amazed by the symmetrical beauty of the building.
The Phoenix Hall is surrounded by a small river, and its reflection on the water, together with the surrounding scenery, makes it feel like a paradise on earth.