Yokohama

With a population of over three million people is Yokohama Japan's second largest city. Yokohama is located less than half an hour south ofTokyo by train, and is the capital ofKanagawa Prefecture.

Towards the end of the Edo Period(1603-1867), during which Japan maintained a policy of self-isolation, Yokohama's port was one of the first to be opened to foreign trade in 1859. Consequently, Yokohama quickly grew from a small fishing village into one of Japan's major cities.

Until today, Yokohama remains popular among expats, has one of the world's largest chinatowns and preserves some former Western residences in theYamate district.

Yokohama Chinatown has a stretch of several shops and restaurants that treats you with Chinese culinary and local sundries.

Yokohama Landmark Tower is yet another destination to travel. This huge 296m tower stretches to level to about 70 floors high that is symbolically placed as the landmark of Yokohama. This tower is famous for its Sky Garden that offers a 360-degree panoramic sight of the Tokyo downtown till the sights of the Mount Fuji.

Sankei-en Gardens, the Japanese-style gardens is speckled with flowers and historical composition displaced from Kyoto and Kamakura. From Yokohama Stadium, the Silk Center, the Yokohama Doll Museum, Yokohama World Porters and the Yokohama Curry Museum are some of the Yokohama Tourist Attractions that are worth visiting.

Motomachi brand is famous along the streets of Yokohama where the area thrives in western culture. The Western-style Buildings in Yamate districts have been preserved since ancient times are the major tourist attraction in Yokohama. Motomachi shopping area, Queen's Square Yokohama, a shopping mall and the Cosmo Clock, the world largest Ferris wheel surely catches your glance as you travel to Yokohama.

Tokyo

Disneyland

Tokyo is the point of entry for most visitors and business travelers to Japan and one of the world's most fascinating cities.

The city dates from around 1600 when the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, chose Edo, then a small fishing village near the mouth of the Sumida River, as the shogunate's new capital. Edo became the world's biggest city by the 1600s, with over a million people.

Edo became Tokyo - Japan's capital - from 1868.

Tokyo is now an extraordinarily vibrant, exciting and fashionable modern metropolis, which still manages to reveal glimpses of its traditional past.

By night, the neon-lit city offers the best entertainment in Japan from superb restaurants, bars and clubs to traditional performances of Japanese theater: kabuki, kyogen and noh. There is something for every conceivable taste in this great city. Enjoy!

Shinjuku is one of the 23 wards of Tokyo, but the name commonly refers just to the large entertainment, business and shopping area around Shinjuku Station.

Handling more than two million passengers each day, Shinjuku Station is Japan's busiest railway station, served by six railway companies and about a dozen railway and subway lines, including the JR Yamanote Line.

West of the station is Shinjuku' skyscraper district, home to many of Tokyo's tallest buildings, including several premier hotels and the Metropolitan Government Office, whose observation decks are open to the public for free.

Northeast of the station lies Kabukicho, Japan's largest and wildest red light district, while department stores, subterranean malls and electronic shops surround Shinjuku Station on all four sides, including the recently redeveloped south, where the pleasant Southern Terrace is located. Redevelopment there is still ongoing.

Shibuya is one of the twenty-three city wards of Tokyo, but often refers to just the popular shopping and entertainment area around Shibuya Station.

Shibuya is one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts and birthplace to many of Japan's fashion and entertainment trends. Most of the area's large department and fashion stores belong to either Tokyu or Seibu, two competing corporations.

A prominent landmark of Shibuya is the large intersection in front of the station (Hachiko Exit), which is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets crossed by amazingly large crowds of pedestrians each time the traffic light turns green.


Odaiba :Daiba, literally meaning "fort", refers to some of the man made islands in the Bay of Tokyo, which were constructed in the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) for the city's protection against attacks from the sea.

During the extravagant 1980s, a spectacular redevelopment of the islands into a futuristic business district was started, but development was critically slowed down after the burst of the "bubble economy" in the early 1990s.

It was not until the second half of the 1990s, that Odaiba developed into one ofTokyo's most interesting tourist spots and the highly popular shopping and entertainment district, which it is today. Further development of the area is still underway.

Among the attractions of Odaiba are several shopping and entertainment centers, theme parks, museums and the futuristic architecture and city planning.

Akihabara (short: Akiba) is a district in central Tokyo, famous for its many electronics shops. In recent years, it has also gained fame as a center of the gaming, manga and animation culture. A major redevelopment of Akihabara Station and surroundings is nearing its completion, giving Akihabara a new face.

The Ginza is Tokyo's most famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district, featuring numerous department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, night clubs and cafes.

One square meter of land in the district's center is worth more than ten million yen(more than 100,000 US dollars), making it one of the most expensive real estate in Japan. It is where you can find the infamous $10 cups of coffee and where virtually every leading brand name in fashion and cosmetics has a presence.

From 1612 to 1800, today's Ginza district was the site of a silver coin mint (Japanese: ginza), after which the district was eventually named. The Ginza evolved as an upmarket shopping district following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

A visit to the Ginza is most pleasant on a weekend afternoon, when the central Chuo Dori gets closed to traffic and become a large pedestrian zone. The closure takes place from 14:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays and from 12:00 to 17:00 on Sundays (until 18:00 from April through September).

Mount Tako: located within metropolitan Tokyo, the densely wooded Takaosan (Mount Takao) is one of the closest natural recreation areas to central Tokyo, offering beautiful scenery, an interesting temple and attractive hiking opportunities. From Shinjuku, it takes 370 Yen and 50 minutes to reach the foot of the mountain.

Considered a sacred mountain, Takaosan has been a center of mountain worship for more than 1000 years. The attractive temple Yakuoin stands near the mountain's top. Visitors pray there to Shinto-Buddhist mountain gods (tengu) for good fortune. Statues of the gods, one with a long nose and one with a crow beak, can be found at the temple and all over the mountain.Due to its proximity to central Tokyo, Takaosan can get very crowded on weekends and during the second half of November, when the mountain becomes one of Tokyo's most popular koyo (autumn foliage) spots. Consequently, if you are looking for a break not only from the concrete but also the crowds of Tokyo, you are well advised to visit Takaosan during the week.

Kamakura is a coastal town in Kanagawa prefecture, less than one hour south ofTokyo.

Kamakura became the political center of Japan, when Minamoto Yoritomochose the city as the seat of his new military government in 1192. The Kamakura government continued to rule Japan for over a century, first under the Minamoto shogun and then under the Hojo regents.

After the decline of the Kamakura government in the 14th century and the establishment of its successor, the Muromachi or Ashikaga government inKyoto, Kamakura remained the political center of Eastern Japan for some time before losing its position to other cities.

Today, Kamakura is a very popular tourist destination. Sometimes called the Kyoto of Eastern Japan, Kamakura offers numerous temples, shrines and other historicalmonuments. In addition, Kamakura's sand beaches attract large crowds during the summer months.

Nikko is a small city at the entrance to Nikko National Park. It is most famous for the Toshogu, Japan's most lavishly decorated shrine complex and mausoleum ofTokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Nikko has been a center of Shinto and Buddhist mountain worship for many centuries, and Nikko National Park continues to offer scenic, mountainous landscapes, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, wild monkeys and hiking trails.

Nikko and the area around Lake Chuzenji, in particular, are well known for their beautiful autumn foliage (koyo). The best times to view the leaves depends on the elevation and year: For Yumoto and Lake Chuzenji it is usually mid October and for central Nikko early to mid November.

Nagoya

Nagoya is renowned both as a business destination and also a place known for tourist attractions. There are a few places that are worth visiting and in this section we will provide you a concise list of the places that you can visit once you are in Japanese city of Nagoya. Some important tourist attractions in Nagoya

The Nagoya Castle: This castle is one of the major tourist attractions of Nagoya and is famous for the golden dolphin or Shachi roof decorations. The interior of the castle also houses a kind of museum that has a lot of interesting artifacts like painting, armors, etc. Luckily all these treasures had survived the onslaught of the war that had engulfed the island nation.

Atsusta Jingu Shrine:The Atsusta Jingu Shrine is a place that is more respected by the ordinary Japanese and isn't just treated as a place of sightseeing. The place is considered holy because the shrine contains on of the three regalia of the emperor as kusanagi- no- Tsurugi or the grass-mowing sword. The legend has that the sword belonged to a prince named Yamato Takeru who had used the latter in his campaign against the rebels in eastern Japan.

The Bansho Ji - Temple: If you have children in your group then one place where you should really try to visit and visit the Banshoji temple, because there are mechanical dolls in the temple that perform a drama. This performance in really enthralling and very appealing to the kids, one gets enough chance to see the dolls perform because regular performances are held between 10am to 6 pm everyday.

Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium: If water and the aquatic life are of interest to you then you should definitely try to visit the port of Nagoya Public Aquarium where you can visit the aquatic mammals in a great detail.

Nagoya TV tower: An interesting structure that beckons you once you are in the city of Nagoya is the TV tower that is the oldest in the whole island of Japan and it was built way back in the 1950s. The television tower also houses an observatory that will allow you to see far and wide.

The tourist attraction of Nagoya also includes the numerous festivals that are also a major source of attraction. The Nagoya Festival is perhaps the biggest festival that the city of Nagoya has to offer in terms of the fun and frolic that is attached to the whole event.

There are several museums in the city that helps understand the culture of Nagoya. One can also take time to visit the theaters that are unique all together and highlight the art form of Nagoya.

Osaka

Osaka or Umeda, the second largest city in Japan and is located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the Japanese main island of Honshu. Osaka is the capital of the Osaka Prefecture with a population of about 20 million people (as per year 2007). The Japanese view Osaka as the gourmet 'food capital' of Japan for its excellent cuisines.

Osaka is a very commercially driven city but at the same this great city is also home to many tourist attractions Japan.

Universal Studio - Universal Studios Japan (at the Tempo-zan Harbor area Osaka) is the first Universal Studios outside USA. There are altogether 18 attractions and rides, 20 theme restaurants along with plenty of stores. Some of the attractions at this theme park such as Snoopy Studio and Universal Studios Motion Picture Magic, are Universal Studios Japan's original and cannot be found elsewhere. Also, there is a Japanese restaurant called Saido in New York Area of the park.

Osaka Aquarium - The world famous Osaka Aquarium is located in the vicinity of Osaka Wan (Osaka Bay) area. Also known as the Kaiyukan (playing in the sea pavilion), the aquarium, it is one of the world's largest aquarium exhibits. There are 15 huge tanks of marine exhibits, each representing a region of the Pacific Rim on which Japan sits.

Tempo-zan Harbor Village and Suntory Musuem – Both of these tourist attractions can also be found in the Osaka Bay area. Here, art loving tourists can find a large number of galleries housing impressionist, post-impressionist, modern art and photography.

Contemporary art lovers will love the The Suntory Museum as this is where contemporary art in all its forms are displayed. The museum is also home to a spectacular IMAX theatre, showing the newest IMAX movies every day of the week. To add more icing onto the pudding, just a short distance from the Suntory Museum, tourists can get a bird's eye view of Osaka by taking a ride on a 368ft (168m) tall Ferris Wheel. Do bear in mind that this is the fifth largest ferris wheel in the world and be braced for a dizzying ride.

Osaka Natural History Museum – The Osaka Museum of Natural History is a must visit for tourist who are interested in the the study of living beings, ecology, geology, astronomy, bio-chemistry, meteorology etc. This museum is also a treasure trove of Japanese history and culture.

Umeda Sky Building - is a spectacular high rise building in the Kita district of Osaka, near Osaka and Umeda Stations. It is also known as the "New Umeda City".The 173 meter tall building consists of two main towers which are connected with each other by the "Floating Garden Observatory" on the 39th floor. The observatory offers a great view of the city for a 700 yenadmission fee.

The Takimi-koji restaurant mall, a replica of a Japanese street of the earlyShowa Period, can be found on the first basement floor. Offices occupy most of the building's other floors.

WTC Cosmo Tower-With three stories underground and 55 stories above ground, the WTC is a center of trade information linked with 282 cities around the world, boasts a height of 256 meters; it’s the highest tower in western Japan. You can take a nonstop see-through elevator to the observatory on the top of the tower; the elevator takes you to the 52nd floor in just 80 seconds. On the 55th floor, you will have a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view; you will be able to see all the way out to the faraway Kansai International Airport, to Awaji Island, and to the Rokko Mountains. After the beautiful and exciting sunset, you can enjoy the lovely night view with the millions of lights of the town, the lights of ships floating offshore, and an illuminated view of the ATC.