Japan Intensive: Kyoto, Hiroshima & Busan

It’s hard to imagine Tokyo as a tiny fishing village named Edo. Tokyo is now the largest metropolitan area in the world, an exciting city with a seemingly unlimited choice of shopping, restaurants, museums, temples, and gardens to visit.

Found on Japan’s main island, Honshu, Aomori City spends most of the year offering visitors a taste of a sleepy, seaside city mixed with forward-looking developments and modern art. Combining the history of an established port town with modern facilities and attractions, the city has been called the economic and cultural center of the area.

Sakaiminato’s history is steeped in fishing tradition. Now the base of Western Japan’s fishing industry, Sakaiminato has been an open trading port with the U.S. and U.K. since 1899. Today the port town continues to be a haven for seafood lovers with fish markets and world-class restaurants scattered along its streets, making it the perfect place for visitors to taste the catch of the day.

It is Pusan's premier trading port, adjacent to the Korean Straits and Japan, that makes it an international metropolis but its beautiful sea vistas that make it a charming place to unwind. Experience the serenity of Beomeo-sa Temple, climb the Busan Tower in Yongdusan Park and rejuvenate at Hushimchung Spa.

Historically rich Nagasaki features beautiful seaside scenery and fabulous nighttime views from its mountain slopes. Secluded hot springs, fascinating museums, and ornate temples live side by side in this exciting city. Ten natural parks grace the area, and unique festivals can be experienced throughout the year. Walk through streets influenced by both Chinese and European cultures in fascinating Nagasaki.

Merged from five smaller cities in 1963, Kitakyushu is the gateway between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu—where the city sits on its northern tip. During WWII, the fate of the city could have been forever changed, if not for bad weather and smoke from the previous day’s bombing. It was the intended target of the Fat Man atomic bomb, but was passed over due to poor visibility in favor of Nagasaki.

This "city of water and peace" is built in one of the most sheltered harbors on the Seto Inland Sea and is much more than the painful past it both honors and defies. Reflect and ring the bell of peace at Peace Memorial Park, then ferry to the holy island of Miyajima, famed for its Itsukushima Shrine and floating torii.

On the Seto Inland Sea, looking out over the Sanuki mountain range, sits the island of Shikoku and the old castle town of Takamatsu, Japan. Now a vibrant city, Takamatsu has been an economic hub of the region since the Edo period. To get a sense of its history, visit Tamamo-koen Park. The 16th century Takamatsu Castle had been destroyed, but there’s still plenty to explore: ruins, water moats, and classic Japanese-style yagura or turrets.

Famous for the beef that bears it name, Kobe is headquarters for numerous Japanese and international firms, and has long been an important port. It is also a short bullet train ride from Kyoto, ancient capital of Japan from the 8th to the 19th century. Here vestiges of the past are easier to find than in many of Japan's modern, high-tech cities: countless temples and shrines, the palaces and castles of shoguns and emperors, and narrow lanes paved in stone and lined with wooden buildings housing shops and restaurants that have been serving travelers for centuries.

Famous for the beef that bears it name, Kobe is headquarters for numerous Japanese and international firms, and has long been an important port. It is also a short bullet train ride from Kyoto, ancient capital of Japan from the 8th to the 19th century. Here vestiges of the past are easier to find than in many of Japan's modern, high-tech cities: countless temples and shrines, the palaces and castles of shoguns and emperors, and narrow lanes paved in stone and lined with wooden buildings housing shops and restaurants that have been serving travelers for centuries.