In my hometown there is world-champion Neapolitan pizza that costs less than a movie ticket.
Budget: Margherita ¥980 · Marinara ¥550 (yes, really)
Where: Solo Pizza Napoletana, Osu district, Nagoya
The catch: zero. Order at the counter, grab a marble table, eat
1. Nagoya’s Solo Pizza Napoletana serves true wood-fired Neapolitan pizza from a world-championship-winning kitchen
2. The Margherita is ¥980 and, in Naples-quality terms, the best pizza-per-yen ratio in Japan
3. The championship recipe itself, the Margherita Extra, winner of the 2010 world championship’s STG division, is on the menu at ¥1,280
4. It sits in Osu, Nagoya’s most fun neighborhood: temple, shopping arcades, thrift stores, and this
Guidebooks send you to Nagoya for miso katsu and chicken wings, and those are good, but when my husband and I want a treat on a Tuesday, we go to Osu for pizza. I mean proper Neapolitan pizza, blistered and soft in the middle (“Japanese pizza” with corn and mayo is a different thing altogether), from a shop whose pizzaiolo went to the world championships in Naples and won. Our bill for two (a Margherita, a white pizza and a pile of fries) was about what one cocktail costs in Tokyo. I have seen Italian tourists eating here in complete silence.
What to order
- Margherita (¥980 ): tomato, mozzarella, pecorino, basil. The standard one to judge a shop by, and it is good.
- Margherita Extra (¥1,280 ): the recipe that won the world championship’s STG division in 2010 (with upgraded cheese and tomatoes). Order this if you order one thing.
- Marinara (¥550 ): no cheese, just tomato, garlic and oregano. The simplest pizza, at a price that looks like a mistake.
- My take: order one pizza per person plus one to share. They are Naples-size, big and thin, and they go in minutes.
TSŪ INFORMATIONwhat Japanese connoisseurs know
Japan takes foreign food championships very seriously, and wins them. Japanese pizzaioli have repeatedly taken top prizes at Naples’ world pizza competitions (Solo Pizza’s own wall displays the certificates; the shop also lists a 2014 world-championship win in the Classica division for its sausage-and-bitter-greens pizza). It is the same with whisky, bread and barista championships. The 通 view: Japan takes foreign classics and studies them very hard, sometimes harder than the home countries do, which is why some of the most correct Neapolitan pizza in the world is now made in a Nagoya shopping district next to a thrift store.
Make it an Osu afternoon
- Osu Kannon temple anchors the district: vermilion, pigeon-rich, free.
- The arcades: covered shopping streets full of vintage clothes, electronics, anime goods and street snacks. This is where young people in Nagoya go, and you can walk all of it.
- The honest downside: Solo Pizza at peak weekend lunch means a queue and a shared-table, elbows-in atmosphere. It is a canteen, so do not plan a date there. We go at off-hours or on weekdays and it is easy.
Quick facts: Solo Pizza Napoletana
Prices: Marinara ¥550 · Margherita ¥980 · Margherita Extra ¥1,280
Style: certified Neapolitan, wood-fired, ~60-second bake
Beat the queue: weekday or off-peak hours
FAQ
Why is it so cheap?
They sell a lot, and they want it cheap: the shop’s stated aim is Naples-style pizza as everyday food, at the Naples price rather than the imported-luxury price. The oven is always going and the menu is short, which keeps prices down.
Is Nagoya worth a stop just for this?
We think Nagoya is Japan’s most underrated big city (we would say that, we live here). The shinkansen puts us 90 minutes from Tokyo and 50 from Kyoto, so a half-day in Osu plus a castle or the Ghibli park makes a good stop on the way.
What is Japanese-style pizza then?
Something else entirely: mayo-corn, teriyaki chicken, mentaiko-potato, delivered in glossy boxes at luxury prices. Try it once out of curiosity, then come back to Osu.
• Solo Pizza Napoletana, Osu (Nagoya): world-champion Neapolitan pizza
• Margherita ¥980 · championship-recipe Margherita Extra ¥1,280
• Wood oven, ~1-minute bake, Naples sizing: one each plus one to share
• Go off-peak; pair with Osu Kannon and the arcades
• From two locals who go too often · nobody paid us anything
More from us: for Japan’s own take on Italian-adjacent comfort, our hambāgu guide. Planning the whole trip? Start with the Perfect Japan Guide.
Read next
When it is not pizza, it is this: Hakata tonkotsu under Nagoya Station, ordered by someone who grew up on it.
The other half of eating in this city is the morning: a coffee here comes with breakfast attached.