Those who follow us know that we love Nagoya, perhaps the most underrated large city in Japan. But in the last 48 hours this amazing city has suffered a deluge in which up to four inches of rain fell in one hour! That is mind boggling. Given that Nagoya is a highly urbanized area with most of the ground surface covered in asphalt and concrete, the water had few places to go, so it rose out of the banks of the rivers and into the streets, buildings and of course down into the underground transportation network.
This video published by the Manila Times includes footage of places we have walked and featured in prior videos. This includes the area around Oasis 21 on Hisayaodori which is a popular boulevard for shopping and dining. In the video I identified one of the exit stairs for the subway from which we have exited. It is surreal to know that we have walked in these spots which are now under water.
Another video from Nagoya TV News includes scenes from inside buildings and water spewing out of maholes in the streets like geysers 20 to 40 feet into the air. I checked in with a few people we know in Nagoya and fortunately, they made it through okay and the waters have now returned to the banks of the rivers. The above photo was taken by one of them as he was leaving the library. So the intrepid Japanese municipal staff and railroads will begin the process of drying out and getting things back in order. Nagoya will dry out and once again be one of our top choices for visiting while in Japan. Check out a couple of our Nagoya videos including this one that compares Nagoya to Tokyo!
(video credits: The Manila Times and Nagoya TV News, public domain)