Sky Promenade — Attraction in Nagoya

Sky Promenade Observation deck is located at the top of Midland Square, the tallest tower in Nagoya, and 5th in Japan. The tower is situated in the heart of the city, right next to Nagoya Station. The Sky Promenade is a beautiful, open-air space, at 247-meter high. It has huge glass windows in all directions, providing a 360-degree panoramic view. There are multiple levels to walk around, and the entire deck is so big that it gives visitors a spacious and somewhat private experience to enjoy the view, as opposed to the large crowds fighting to see out of the same window that happens in many observatories. The roof is open, exposing visitors to the elements. During the summer a beer garden is set up in the Sky Promenade, which gives visitors a chance to eat and drink while gazing at the best view in town.Opened in 2007, Midland Square (officially called the Toyota-Mainichi Building) houses many companies (including Toyota and the Mainichi Shimbun Newspapers), a movie theatre, and a shopping mall.

The Sky Promenade observation deck is open from 11:00am to 10:00pm, (with last entry at 9:30pm) for most of the year. (closes one early in Winter). Entry costs 750 yen for adults. There are also full-day tickets that allow you multiple re-entries throughout the day that cost 1,050. The closest metro station is...

My husband and I couldn't catch a break with the weather when we planned our obligatory visit to this observation deck. At 800 feet, it's the tallest open-air observatory in Japan if that excites you. It didn't really do it for us because the walkways and railings were wet from the torrential downpour. The observation deck is up on the 46th floor of Nagoya's tallest skyscraper, Midland Square, and honestly, the elevator ride was the most satisfying part of the experience.

Once up there, we walked around the perimeter taking in as much of the panoramic view as possible. But like Joni Mitchell says, clouds got in our way. It's cloud illusions that I recall. There was a nice albeit distant view of Nagoya Castle, a spot we didn't have time to visit during our quickie Nagoya stop There were no other enticements offered with the ¥1,000 admission fee. We had no interest in the BBQ beer garden on the 44th floor, and all the viewpoint sofas were taken. Time to...

I was surprised how much we enjoyed this!

When we arrived in Nagoya, this wasn't even remotely on our radar of things we wanted to do. But with some time to kill that evening, we gave it a shot since it was surprisingly inexpensive and not even a hint of a line.

The view was amazing. You'll take a ton of pictures.

There's also a small bar and finger food place at the top of you fancy grabbing a beer and watching Nagoya twinkle beneath you.

We spent less than an hour up top (there's not much to do but look around), but both agreed it was the sleeper joy of our time in Nagoya and even Japan overall.

This is worth the time and effort. A must...