"The Real Letdown Is That You Can't Go Inside the Keep": Japanese Viewers Fact-Check a List of Tokai's "Disappointing" Sights, From Nagoya Castle to Shirakawa-go

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 127 of 174 comments

• I live in the Tokai region, and this ranking is pretty sloppy.

  😅東海地方に住む者だけど、このランキングは、相当いい加減。

  — @アンソニー-c1p52 likes

• The only one I could agree was disappointing was Legoland. Isn't this a ranking made without any reporting or fact-checking? Please don't call Nagoya Castle disappointing when you've never even been.

  がっかりに同意できたのはレゴランドだけだった。 取材も裏付けもなくつくったランキングじゃないのかな。 名古屋城だって行ったこともないのにガッカリにしないでほしい。

  — @さささん-y5w10 likes

• Nagoya Castle's current main keep is a concrete castle, and on top of that it's not earthquake-resistant enough, so you can't even go inside. If it weren't for the Honmaru Palace, tourists who came without knowing would riot.

  現在の名古屋城の本丸はコンクリ城なのに耐震強度不足でそもそも入場できないぞ 本丸御殿がなければ知らずに来た観光客が暴動起こすレベル

  — @tetrapo8 likes

• For Shirakawa-go Gassho-zukuri Village, the national road between the expressway exit and the parking lot is jammed with cars waiting to get into the parking lot. It's a huge nuisance for cars just passing through on the national road.

  白川郷合掌造り集落は高速道路の出口から駐車場までの間の国道が、駐車場の入場待ち渋滞をしています。国道を通過するだけの車はえらい迷惑です。

  — @sironeko02226 likes

• Something I want to say to Shirakawa-go. On Route 156 from the Shirakawa-go interchange light to the Shirakawa-go parking lots, I went on a Sunday just after noon and the cars didn't move at all. I wanted to get home fast, but in 30 minutes we moved about 500 meters. With no choice, I turned back and went home on the expressway from the Shirakawa-go interchange. I think the cars waiting for the parking lot are lined up all along Route 156. I want them to fix it.

  白川郷に言いたいです。白川郷インター前信号から白川郷→駐車場への156号線、日曜日の昼過ぎに行ったけど車が全く動かなかった。急いで帰りたかったのに30分で500m位しか動かなかった。仕方なしに戻って白川郷インターから高速で帰りました。多分駐車場待ちの車がずらーっと156号に並んでる。改善して欲しいです。

  — @Chaopon0 likes

• Theme parks aside, people who can't enjoy sightseeing spots are mostly people who lack the background and don't know the history. Also, Shirakawa-go really is crowded, but it really depends on the day, so when I didn't give up and went a few more times there were days it was empty.

  テーマパークは別として、観光地で楽しめないのは教養がない、歴史を知らない人が多いんだよ あと、白川郷は確かに人多いけどほんと日によるから、懲りずに何度か行ったら空いてる日もあったりする

  — @yukiyukiyukiyuki16 likes

• Monet's Pond... it used to be just an ordinary man-made reservoir... (Seki resident)

  モネの池 なんて…普通の人工ため池だったのに…（関市民）

  — @ドラガクプレイヤー11 likes

• Monet's Pond looks truly beautiful early in the morning, before the koi start moving around! But if you go later, the koi swim around and the water gets cloudy! Maybe around 5 to 7 a.m.? Also, there's one koi with a heart mark on its forehead, so it might be fun to look for it.

  モネの池は早朝の鯉が活発に動き始める前だと本当に綺麗に見える！ けど、時間帯が遅いと鯉が動き回り池の水が濁ってしまう！ 早朝5〜7時くらいかな？ 後、ココには額にハートマークの付いてる鯉が一匹いるので探してみるのも良いかも？

  — @レトロゲーマー-u5e1 likes

• I think Nabana no Sato is a good place where you can enjoy yourself slowly and at ease if you plan around the season and time... The vouchers can be used at the stalls(?) so you can take your time, so I think they're worth it...

  なばなの里は時期時間を考慮して計画すればゆっくりゆったりと楽しめる良い施設だと思う… 金券もゆっくり過ごすために屋台(？)で使えるから有効だと思う…

  — @ろんすけ-c5y20 likes

• Shima Spain Village was good though. I went on a weekday, and the only people there were a school field trip and about 20 other families, so I rode every attraction with no wait and got a front-row seat for the paid flamenco show too.

  スペイン村は良かったけどな。 平日に行ったけど来てたのが小学校の遠足と他の家族が20組ぐらいで全てのアトラクションが待ち時間無しで乗れたし有料のフラメンコもかぶり付きで見れた

  — @照海王21 likes

• Legoland's target is kids up to 12. It's the parents who are strange for dragging them around late at night.

  レゴランドは12歳までの子供がターゲット。夜遅くまで連れ歩く方がおかしいだろ。

  — @cbakusadango321 likes

• Number 10, the Unagi Pie factory, I go less for the tour and more for the souvenir mini Unagi Pies and the café attached to it.

  10位のウナギパイの工場は見学よりお土産のミニウナギパイと併設しているカフェ目的で行きます

  — @senhimeihime23 likes

• I went to see the autumn leaves at Korankei, but for all that traffic, it was nothing special 😢

  香嵐渓の紅葉を見に行ったけど、大渋滞のわりに、大したことない😢

  — @川村淳一-w9v15 likes

• Aichi Prefecture isn't a tourist destination to begin with, it's a place you go to work.

  そもそも愛知県は観光地ではなく勤務地。

  — @NazmiStepperMost liked63 likes

• Nagoya Castle... as a castle, it's just as you say, it's a step below the national treasure Inuyama Castle, but the Honmaru Palace that was restored inside Nagoya Castle is worth seeing.

  名古屋城・・城の価値は、そのとおりで、国宝犬山城より落ちますが、 名古屋城内に復元された「本丸御殿」は見る価値があります。

  — @milou09198 likes

• Shirakawa-go isn't bad, but there are too many people. In that case, if you go a little farther to Gokayama, which is a bit smaller, you can enjoy yourself plenty.

  白川郷は悪くないけど人が多すぎ。 それならばやや規模は小さいものの、もう少し足を延ばして五箇山に行けば十分楽しめますよ。

  — @jodien99130 likes

• SaveNagoya Castle Honmaru Palace↗名古屋城 本丸御殿Nagoya, Aichi

  The main keep is closed, but commenters say the restored palace is the part of Nagoya Castle worth seeing (8 likes).

• SaveInuyama Castle↗犬山城Inuyama, Aichi

  Named by several commenters as the better castle nearby, a national treasure (8 likes).

• SaveGokayama↗五箇山Nanto, Toyama

  A smaller thatched-roof village a bit farther on from Shirakawa-go, suggested for anyone put off by the crowds.

• SaveMonet's Pond (Nemichi Shrine)↗モネの池（根道神社）Seki, Gifu

  Go early in the morning before the koi cloud the water, commenters say.

• SaveShima Spain Village↗志摩スペイン村Shima, Mie

  Defended by commenters: on a weekday one rode every ride with no wait (21 likes).

• SaveNabana no Sato↗なばなの里Kuwana, Mie

  Worth it if you plan around the season and time of day, commenters say (20 likes); entry vouchers can be spent at the food stalls.

• SaveUnagi Pie Factory↗うなぎパイファクトリーHamamatsu, Shizuoka

  Commenters go for the souvenir mini pies and the café more than the short tour (23 likes).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Can you go inside Nagoya Castle?

Not inside the main keep, which has been closed to visitors since May 2018 while the city plans a wooden reconstruction. The rest of the grounds and the rebuilt Honmaru Palace are open, and commenters say the palace is the part worth seeing (8 likes); without it, one says, visitors who came unaware would riot.

Sources: nagoyajo.city.nagoya.jp · nikkei.com — checked 2026-09-17

When is the best time to see Monet's Pond?

Morning. One visitor says the water is clearest early, before the koi start moving and stir it up, suggesting roughly 5 to 7 a.m., and another who was disappointed found it small with nothing else around.

Is Legoland Japan worth it for adults?

Probably not on its own. It was the one spot on the list that a commenter agreed was disappointing (10 likes), and others say plainly it is aimed at children up to about 12, which is also why it closes early.

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