Japan

Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan’s capital, is a place of vast proportions where the old and the new merge into a fabulously detailed cityscape. Upon arrival, visitors are confronted with the sheer energy that radiates from within Tokyo. Tokyo's city center is a kaleidoscope of exotic sights and sounds. The night view brings forth a seemingly endless, delicate tapestry of Tokyo lights. Despite two major disasters, Tokyo, located at the mouth of the Sumida-gawa River, has remarkably transformed into a modern Japanese metropolis. Tokyo is an example of a success story in action.

A visit to Tokyo brings a collection of sights and provides for an animated experience. In such a city there is so much to see and do, ranging from visits to shrines, temples, and excellent museums, to trips throughout the various shopping areas.

Tokyo, in fact, is a shopper's paradise. An amazing variety of high-quality goods and brand designer products can be found in elegant specialty shops located in Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Yurakucho, and Ikebukuro. The dazzling lights of Ginza, Japan's answer to New York's Fifth Avenue, and Tokyo's most celebrated shopping district, attracts both the avid shopper and the window shopper alike.

In the sports arena, baseball is big business in Tokyo. The spectacular Korakuen Dome, home of the popular Giants, features Japanese professional baseball games which are held regularly. Sport fans will be drawn to Tokyo's four biggest spectator sports: professional baseball, rugby, sumo and soccer. Although not among the four, Yankee style football and martial arts are also quite popular.

If you enjoy sightseeing, make sure to embark on a relaxing and fascinating 40 minute day cruise on the Sumida River between Asakusa and the Port of Tokyo. A choice of five routes are offered: the Canal Cruise (canal district and Shinagawa Aquarium), the Harbour Cruise (Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Port), the Kasai Sea life Park (including a stop at Tokyo Big Sight), the Museum of Maritime Science (Odaiba Seaside Park and museum of ships complete with swimming pool and palms), and the Sumida River (passing beneath a dozen bridges).

In this city of twenty-four-hour shops and ancient shrines, there is always a showcase performance for visitors to enjoy. For the art enthusiast, Tokyo offers many forms of entertainment. In fact, Japan is focused on the arts and, with excellent facilities such as the National Theatre and Opera City in the Shinjuku district, Tokyo appeals to individuals and groups interested in drama, opera, and the ballet. For theatregoers there are three unique and powerful forms of entertainment: Kabuki, Takarazuka, and Noh. As a standing form of ancient Japanese tradition the Kabuki features only male performers, whereas Takarazuka is an all-girl revue.

For a more thorough view of Japan’s history, visitors can tour the many excellent museums scattered throughout Tokyo. The most modern is the Edo-Tokyo Museum, complete with an intriguing 52-meter escalator supported by four colossal pillars.

Closely tied to the culture of Japan, the traditional Japanese gardens of Tokyo take visitors a step back from the frenzied pace of modern life. They find themselves entering a world of tranquility, an enchanting setting of gardens outlined by wooden houses landscaped with neatly clipped bonsai trees. Cobbled lanes lead to tiny neighborhood shrines shrouded in foliage.

A major advantage of visiting Tokyo is to participate in the many festivals that take place around the year. Each year a festival is held during which the passing seasons are observed by visits to local shrines or temples. With over 500 annual events, the festivals provide visitors tangible links to the past and present. The upbeat atmosphere is one of the things that makes Tokyo so appealing. This vitality has become part of the popular culture, a culture which seems to be constantly in the midst of a celebration of life.

Kyoto

Kyoto has a reputation worldwide as Japan's most beautiful city, boasting more World Heritage sites per square inch than any other. However, most visitors' first impressions will be of the vast urban development of central Kyoto, which stretches in all directions from its hub at the ultra-modern glass-and-steel railway station.

Kyoto does not have an airport, but it has the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, which glides almost silently between the two cities in only 2 hours and 14 minutes. For connections to points along the way, travelers can take the private Hankyu or Keihan lines to Osaka, or the Kintetsu line to Nara.

Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until the Meiji Restoration of 1868 when the capital was moved to Tokyo. It is the country's seventh largest city with a population of 2.6 million people. Kyoto is still considered the center of Japanese culture and is a city of revered temples and serene gardens most of which were built for emperors, shoguns, geishas, and monks during the period of imperial power.

Over the centuries, Kyoto was destroyed by many wars and fires, but due to its historic value, the city was not chosen as a target of air raids during World War II.

Kyoto is in the Kansai region of Japan, located near Osaka and Kobe. It is famous for its 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines. Kyoto features the famous Ryoan-ji temple's zen garden and is the place where the Kyoto protocol was developed. (In 1997, Kyoto hosted the international conference that bears the city's name, which resulted in issuance of the protocol on the limiting worldwide of environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions.)

Highlights of Kyoto include Nijo Castle with its series of ornately-decorated reception rooms within the Ninomaru complex and its "nightingale floors" : wooden flooring which makes bird-like squeaking sounds when stepped on as a result of nail placement in the floor joists. This was a warning system signaling an intruder to the resident shogun's guards. From the donjon of the inner castle, visitors enjoy panoramic views of the castle layout, and of the entire city.

The Imperial Park is a large, peaceful area in the centre of Kyoto, circling the Imperial Palace. The Palace itself is only open to visitors on pre-booked guided tours. Rianji Temple is known for its Zen garden, which is considered to be one of the most notable examples of the "dry-landscape" style. Surrounded by low walls, an arrangement of fifteen rocks sits on a bed of white gravel and is designed to inspire contemplation and inner peace.

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, formally known as Rokuonji is the most popular tourist attraction in Kyoto. The pavilion was originally built as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the late 12th century, and converted into a temple by his son. Rebuilt after a deliberate fire, it has been embellished with extra layers of gold leaf and fairly blazes in the sunlight. Visitors follow a path through the moss garden surrounding the pavilion.

The history of Kyoto extends over 1200 years, and during this time various traditional crafts have developed. Today, these traditional crafts continue to be produced by hand and are being appreciated and passed on to the next generation. Among these treasured crafts is the construction of the Kyo-Ningyo, the Kyoto doll, Kiyomizu pottery, Tegaki Yuzen, hand dyeing, and Kyo-shikki, Kyoto lacquerware.

Kyoto has earned a well deserved reputation as a truly vibrant city recognized and appreciated throughout Japan and the rest of the world.

Osaka

Osaka is the second largest city in Japan and has always had the reputation as a center for financial success. Osaka is located in Kansai region on the main island of Honshu. It is Japan's second largest city and is a major industrial, port, and economic center.

Osaka is famous in Japan for shopping . Midosuji Dori, a wide boulevard lined with gingko trees running north and south in the heart of the city, is the center for name-brand boutiques. Just to the east is Shinsaibashi-suji, a covered promenade with many shops, some dating back to the Edo Period. On the other side of Midosuji Dori is America-Mura, where young Japanese shop for T-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, ripped jeans, and other American fashions. Teens also patronize HEP FIVE, a huge shopping complex near Umeda with a Joypolis amusement arcade and a Ferris wheel on top. Universal CityWalk, near Universal Studios, sells everything from Hello Kitty merchandise to Italian imports.

Osaka has many underground shopping arcades. Enter in Umeda (where the JR, Hanshin, subway, and Hankyu train lines intersect) and you can shop for miles! Crysta Nagahori, connecting Nagahoribashi Station to Yotsubashi-suji, has a glass atrium ceiling, flowing streams of water, and 100 shops, making it one of the largest shopping malls in Japan. Nearby are Namba Walk, Nan-nan Town, and Namba City, all interconnected by underground passageways.

The City of Osaka has two main areas: Kita (North) and Minami (South). Extensive building is also taking place in the Bay Area. The Kita is the district around JR Osaka Station and Umeda Station on the subway, Hanshin and Hankyu Lines, with a concentration of department stores and commercial centers forming a huge underground shopping area. The Shin-Umeda City to the east features a “Floating Garden” Observatory, which commands panoramic views of Osaka.

The Minami district is in the vicinity of Namba Station on the subway, Nankai and Kintetsu lines. While Kita has a sophisticated image, Minami is a bustling town of ordinary people. In this area, visitors will find the Shin Kabukiza Theater, the National Bunraku Theater, and the Museum of Kamigata Performing Arts displaying exhibits describing Osaka’s performing arts.

The Bay Area, is home to Universal Studios Japan, with its focus on Hollywood movies and TV programs. Also located in the area are the Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium), the WTC (World Trade Center), the tallest building in western Japan, and the Osaka Dome. The Dome combines a ball park and an amusement center.

Of the other major landmarks in Osaka, Osaka Castle is best known. The park surrounding the castle is the site of cherry and plum blossom viewing in season. Also within the castle grounds are Peace Osaka (Osaka International Peace Center), and Osaka City Museum. The castle stands in contrast to the high-rise buildings of the neighboring Osaka Business Park.

Other highlights are the Tennoji area, with Shitennoji Temple-Japan’s oldest official temple, and Tennoji Zoo, along with Tsurumi Ryokuchi-an urban oasis; and Nagai Park. River cruises are a favorite way to enjoy Osaka, which is known as the “city of water”.

Osaka is also known as the food capital of Japan. One of the most fascinating aspects of the city is Osaka has its food theme parks. These are elaborately designed and constructed. They contain numerous restaurants and food stalls that specialize in one kind of cooking, for example, noodles or dumplings. Persons wanting to try that food gravitate to these areas to sample the wide variety of different flavors and styles available.

Another type of food theme park in Osaka is the kind where a street or part of the city from the past is re-created, and all the restaurants serve dishes from that Period. An example is Naniwa Kuishimbo Yokocho. Located inside the Tempozan Marketplace, Naniwa Kuishimbo Yokocho is the first theme park of Osaka cuisine in Japan. Inside, it re-creates a sample of a Naniwa gastronomy alley near the railway station circa 1965, just before the city hosted Expo '70.

Instead of focusing on a single food, Naniwa Kuishimbo Yokocho brings together 20 restaurants that are popular in and around Osaka and that serve special delicacies of the area. The result: inexpensive and tasty food in just the right ambience.

The theme of Dotombori Gokuraku Shopping Street is an Osaka streetscape from the late Taisho Period to the early Showa Period. Interesting buildings, shops, and unique eating places recapture the mood of those early days.

Osaka is a friendly city offering an eclectic blend of the old and the new and a myriad of interesting activities throughout the year.

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