Nagoya is Japan's cheapest big city for travellers who know where to look: free science museums, a free red-brick courthouse, ¥100 arcade snacks and observation decks for ¥300. Three days here can run well under ¥4,000 a day.
The 1922 red-brick Neo-Baroque court house survived the 1945 firebombing. Free entry to the stained-glass central staircase, restored courtrooms and the basement holding cells. Open 09:00–17:00, closed Mondays.
Chubu Electric's five-floor hands-on museum in Fushimi charges nothing: a Tesla coil lightning show, static-electricity domes and a planetarium-style Omni-Max theatre. Open 09:30–17:00, closed Mondays and the third Friday.
A free hillside temple in Chikusa hiding a 10-metre mint-green Buddha built in 1987, ringed by white elephants and stone arhats. Grounds are open dawn to dusk with no gate, no ticket booth and almost no tourists.
The rebuilt 1.4 km linear park under the 1954 Mirai Tower — Japan's oldest TV tower — has free lawns, water features and evening illumination. Skip the ¥1,300 deck; the lit lattice from below is the better photo anyway.
Nagoya's working wholesale market, five minutes from Nagoya Station. Entry is free and the upstairs stalls serve kaisendon and grilled fish sets from ¥900. Most vendors trade 04:00–10:00, so late morning means discounts.
1,200 shops across eight covered arcades where lunch is eaten standing up: Osu Karaage skewers ¥250, taiyaki ¥180, Brazilian pastel ¥300 and matcha soft serve ¥400. On the 18th and 28th a free flea market fills the lanes.
A half-shuttered Showa-era arcade near Nagoya Castle that locals have refilled with ¥300 standing bars, a sento bathhouse and old sweet shops. Roasted sweet potato, senbei and taiyaki all sit under ¥350 here.
Birthplace of Taiwan ramen — a fiercely spicy minced-pork and chilli bowl invented here in 1975 by a Taiwanese owner and found nowhere in Taiwan. A full bowl is around ¥750; rice and gyoza add ¥400.
An Edo-era post town of tiled merchant houses 20 minutes south by Meitetsu, still producing arimatsu-shibori tie-dye since 1608. Walking the preserved main street is free; the ¥300 Shibori Kaikan runs indigo demonstrations.
The white sail-shaped 1984 tower gives a 63-metre view over Ise Bay, the container cranes and the Antarctic research ship Fuji moored below. Admission ¥300, and the surrounding Garden Pier promenade costs nothing.
JR Central's hangar holds 39 real trains including the 581 km/h MLX01 maglev record-holder and a 1964 Series 0 Shinkansen. Entry ¥1,000, open 10:00–17:30, closed Tuesdays; you can sit in most of the carriages.
A glass roof in Sakae holding a shallow layer of water you walk around at 14 metres up, lit blue after dark with the Mirai Tower framed beside it. Open 10:00–21:00 and completely free to enter.