Nagoya: the castle with the golden fish

Japan's third industrial hub and home of Toyota, Nagoya preserves a castle crowned by two golden dolphins that have become symbols of the city.

The center is comfortably explored with metro and on foot.

The Castle of Nagoya, rebuilt in reinforced concrete after wartime destruction, is topped by two shachihoko in gold, legendary creatures half-fish and half-tiger.

Just steps away, the Atsuta Shrine, among the most venerated in Japan, according to Shinto tradition, holds one of the three sacred imperial relics, immersed in an ancient city forest.

Continuing on, you visit the Toyota Industrial Technology Museum, which traces the company's passage from automatic textile looms to modern automobiles.

Towards evening, the Sakae district, the heart of the city's commerce, lights up with neon signs among large department stores, restaurants, and crowded venues until late night.

The castle's golden dolphins were melted down during the war to recover the metal, only reconstructed in the 1950s along with the rest of the structure destroyed in bombing raids.

The imperial relic kept at Atsuta, a legendary sword, is never publicly displayed: its existence is passed down solely through Shinto tradition, never verified by outside observers.