6 Best Sights in Nagoya, Ise-Shima, and the Kii Peninsula, Japan

In Gifu Park, five minutes south of the cable-car station, sits this well-presented hands-on-museum, with exhibits covering Gifu from the prehistoric age through to feudal and pre-modern Japan. On the second floor you can dress up in traditional clothing and play old Japanese games such as bansugoroku (similar to backgammon).

The Iga-Ryu school of ninjutsu was one of the top two training centers for Japan's ancient spies and assassins in the 14th century. At the ninja residence, a guide in traditional dress explains how they were always prepared for attack. The hidden doors and secret passages are ingenious. Energetic demonstrations of ninja weapons like throwing stars, swords, daggers, and sickles are fun, and afterwards you can try out the throwing star. If you want to walk around the museum and town dressed up as a ninja, staff can point you to shops where you can rent all the gear. One special exhibit gives you some background on ninja history and techniques, while another displays the disguises and encryption used here, as well as the inventive tools that enabled them to walk on water and scale sheer walls. The museum is in Ueno Park, a 10-minute walk up the hill from Uenoshi Station.

When Legoland Japan opened in the Nagoya port area in 2017 it gave the region something to rival the Universal Studios Japan amusement park in Osaka and Disney Resorts just outside Tokyo. Aimed at kids aged 2 to 12 (and their families), the park brings together more than 40 rides spread across seven zones, including the medieval-themed Knights Kingdom and its Dragon roller coaster and water fights in the Pirate Shores zone. As you might expect from Lego, there are also plenty of models to check out—10,000 in all using a total of 17 million Lego bricks.

Given a major makeover in 2011, the seven-story Nagoya City Science Museum is packed with fun, hands-on attractions designed to teach kids of all ages about science. The highlights are a planetarium—Japan's biggest—and several visually impressive "labs" where you can experience a tornado, learn about electricity, or feel the Arctic cold.

Located in Gifu Park, this small museum houses disturbingly large beetles, colorful butterflies, and other bugs.

Housed in the distinctive brick buildings of the company's original factory, this museum is dedicated to the rise of Nagoya's most famous company. Toyota's textile-industry origins are explored in the first of two immense halls, with an amazing selection of looms illustrating the evolution of spinning and weaving technologies over the last 200 years. The second, even larger hall focuses on the company's move into auto manufacturing, with exhibits including the Model AA, Toyota's first mass-production automobile. In the Technoland zone, kids can try out a wind tunnel, play with water and air jets, operate a virtual weaving machine, and test out mini electric cars. The museum is a 20-minute walk north of JR Nagoya Station or three minutes from JR Sako Station.