Kobe is home to a number of famous Japanese companies, such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kobe Steel, and ASICS, which is a sportswear and athletic equipment company. Global companies that make their Japanese headquarters in Kobe include Nestle and Proctor & Gamble. With so many companies and trades in Kobe, the area among the busiest for business and office jobs in Japan.

If you’re just there to sightsee, the first thing you’ll notice is the Rokko Mountains, which frame the long, rather thin city of Kobe on the opposite side of the ocean. The apex of the Rokko Mountains is about 3055 feet high. If you’re interested in seeing the city of Kobe from the mountains, there are a number of observation decks, restaurants, museums, and even a botanical garden along the mountainside. Perhaps most famous is the Arima Onsen (read here about onsen) atop the mountain, from which you can bathe and see the city at a stunning height. Taking a bus to the onsen from the city will only cost you about US$20 round-trip.

You can’t leave Kobe (unless you’re a vegetarian or not a fan of beef) without trying some Kobe beef. Easily one of the highest quality beef types in all of Japan, other Japanese cities import Kobe’s black Tajima-ushi Wagyu cattle beef. Some of the highest quality cuts of steak made from Kobe beef can cost about US$500 (!), but you can sample much more affordable Kobe beef in anything from burgers to shabu shabu to sushi (cooked) to sukiyaki.

Your trip to Kobe would be incomplete without a ride on the giant Ferris wheel at Kobe Harborland. The view from the Ferris wheel at night is stunning!

Have you ever been to Kobe? Have you ever tried Kobe beef? Is the beef worth the rave reviews it gets? Have you ever visited the Rokko Mountains?

Yokohama is only about 28 miles south of the city of Tokyo and is nestled along the Tokyo Bay. You can easily catch a train from Tokyo to Yokohama in just over an hour and for only about ¥740 (about US$8). Yokohama is actually one of the cities with the greatest immigrant population; about 75,000 of its residents are from countries such as China, South Korea, the Philippines and Brazil. (As far as its immigration goes, Japan has a high rate of Brazilians, both legal and illegal [by overstaying their work visas] due to the need for laborers.)

Because Yokohama is a somewhat southern city, you can expect humid, hot summers and mild winters with virtually no snowfall. That said, although summer may be the peak tourist season, you’d be better off touring during the fall or winter when fewer visitors pack the streets.

Yokohama is well known for Kannai, a historic district featuring thoroughly modern architecture and stores (but many “firsts,” such as the first place in Japan to sell ice cream and the first place to sell beer). Yokohama is also home to Japan’s tallest building, the Landmark Tower, as well as the Cosmo Clock 21, the world’s largest clock and one of the world’s largest Ferris wheels, which offers a stunning view of the city that’s not to be missed after sunset. You can expect lots of great places to shop in Yokohama, such as the Motomachi area, as well as great places to stroll along the harbors.

For more classical Japanese architecture enthusiasts, you may want to head to Sankei Garden, which features a gorgeous array of classical Japanese gardens and buildings. Tickets cost only around ¥500 (about US$5.50)

Have you ever visited Yokohama? If you’re touring Japan, would you prefer to visit the big metropolitan areas or the areas with more historical sites?

Home to historic locations such as the Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion Temple), Kyoto was once Japan’s capital city for a period of almost 1100 years from 794 CE to 1868 CE. (There was a brief time in the 1180s CE, however, in which it was not the capital.) During this time, Kyoto was known as Heian-kyo. Kyoto was home to the imperial family for all of these years, even when the imperial family lost much of its power to the shoguns (military leaders), so it served as the nation’s capital, at least on paper. In fact, the label of “capital” was never officially transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo in the 1800s even after the imperial family moved, so there are some who believe that Kyoto remains the capital officially, despite the modern government being seated in Tokyo.

Originally modeled after the Chinese city of Xi’an (at the time the capital of the Tang Dynasty), the city of Kyoto retains much of its imperial and historical significance. There are plenty of modern buildings, but there are far more historic buildings per square mile than you would find in Tokyo and much more of the traditional history is preserved in Kyoto culture. For example, the most prestigious area of geisha culture remains in Kyoto, not Tokyo. Other sites of interest include the Heian Shrine, the Shimogamo Shrine, the Daigo-ji, Ninna-ji, and much more.

The American military knew about Kyoto’s rich cultural and historical significance to Japan and strongly considered Kyoto as a target for the atomic bomb during World War II, hoping to devastate the Japanese people’s morale by destroying so much of their history at once. However, it was spared from the atomic bomb and even from the rest of the bombings thanks to Edwin O. Reischauer, a “Japan expert” liaison to the U.S. military (and later ambassador to Japan), who had been to Kyoto and wanted to preserve its beauty.

Have you ever been to Kyoto? What’s your favorite historical site in Kyoto? Do you agree with America’s World War II decision to spare Kyoto in favor of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo (which was devastated by firebombing), and other cities? Why or why not?

Nagano is a large city, but not comparable (population-wise) to much of the rest of Japan. With about 378,000 residents, it ranks 51^st on the list of most populated cities in the country. (Tokyo, the most populated, is home to approximately 8.1 million people.) However, it’s that relatively “small, large city” feel to Nagano that makes it an ideal destination for travelers, who will have plenty to see and fewer crowds with which to contend.

No trip to Nagano is complete without a visit to Zenkou-ji, the 7^th century Buddhist temple that’s a destination for 1 million tourists each year. Zenkou-ji is closely tied with the history of the city, as the city of Nagano was established in 1897 (1200 years after the temple was built) as a town built with the temple as its focal point.

The temple is famous aesthetically for its images of Amida Buddha, and temple history says that the temple got its name when a priest who rescued images of the Buddha from being drowned in a canal by a rival Buddhist clan. The most famous image of Buddha at the temple, though, is hidden from the public and is known as a hibutsu (“secret Buddha”). According to legend, this hibutsu is the first image of Buddha to have been brought to Japan by China.

You may also be interested in touring parks and museums dedicated to the Battles of Kawanakajima, five major battles in Japanese history that took place in the 16^th century. These parks are the principal battlegrounds and are still preserved in Nagano today.

As you could likely tell from its selection as the host for the Winter Olympics, Nagano City and the rest of the Nagano Prefecture is known for winter weather and ski resorts. The most famous resorts may be Iizuna, which doubles as a campsite in summer and has an onsen year-round, and Shiga Kogen, where you can see snow monkeys at the nearby Jigokudani Monkey Park.

Have you ever been to Nagano? Do you remember seeing some of Nagano during the 1998 Winter Olympics? Would you like to visit Nagano?

Nagoya is home to several art museums as well as the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, one of the largest zoos in Asia that includes an amusement park as well. You may also decide to tour the Noritake factory, where world-famous fine china is manufactured. Nagoya is also famous for the 5^th tallest building in Japan, Midland Square, which just opened in 2007 as the new international sales headquarters for Toyota.

One of the most popular tourist locations in Nagoya is Nagoya Castle, a castle restored to look like the original castle that stood in its place since 1612. It famously burned during World War II, so the current castle is a faithful reconstruction that was completed in 1959. Although many of the artifacts were destroyed, some of the original paintings were salvaged and are on display. One of the most iconic features of the Nagoya Castle is what many people call the “golden fish.” Two giant statues called the kinshachi are actually golden dolphin statues with tiger-like heads. They are placed on both ends of the roof and are meant, in a spiritual sense, to protect the castle from further fire.

If you’re in Nagoya, you should also stop at the Atsuta Shrine, the second most important shrine to the Shinto religion. Besides the beautiful grounds and architecture, you may get a glimpse of one of around 4400 national treasures, but don’t expect to see the legendary Kusanagi sword, a sword literally from legend (think Excalibur) and one of the three sacred treasures of Japan. The sword is rumored to be at the shrine, but no one from the public may see it. Even if you can’t see a sacred treasure, you may be in Nagoya during one of 70 annual festivals, so you’ll have plenty to do to enjoy your tour of the grounds.

Have you ever visited Nagoya? Would you be interested in touring Nagoya Castle, even though it’s a restoration? Do you think the Kusanagi sword exists?

Just like in the U.S., where an American southerner often speaks with a remarkably different accent than a New Englander, for example, there are multiple distinguishable accents throughout the nation of Japan. The standard Japanese accent, which foreigners are most likely to study and which is the frequent accent used in TV and movie productions, is the Tokyo-ben (the Tokyo dialect). The next most famous accent is the Kansai-ben and in particular, the Osaka-ben (Osaka is a prefecture in the Kansai area).

The Osaka-ben involves putting the emphasis on different syllables in most any given word as well as a different intonation. Some sentence-ending particles and verb conjugations are changed slightly. There are also a few phrases synonymous with the accent, including “ookini” (“thank you,” “arigatou” in standard Japanese, or “please,” “onegai” or “kudasai” in standard Japanese) and “kore nambo” (“how much is this?” or “kore wa ikura desu ka” in standard Japanese).

While Osakans are stereotypically known to be jovial and friendly, the Osaka-ben is characterized as being a bit goofy and backwards by the rest of Japan, although of course that’s just a stereotype. However, it’s the stereotype that the accent is “funny-sounding” that makes it an integral part of Osakan comedy.

The most famous type of Osakan comedy is manzai, which actually was developed roughly 1000 years ago in other parts of Japan. However, since the late 19^th century, manzai has been so strongly associated with Osaka that performing the act in an Osakan accent (whether or the performers are Osakan natives) is virtually a prerequisite, even when taking the show on the road to other parts of Japan.

The manzai act involves two comedians, one called the tsukkomi (literally, “butt in,” but basically the straight man) and the other the boke (literally “senility,” and in other words, the funny man). Like in the Western straight-man-funny-man combos, the humor is derived from one comedian trying to tell a story and the funny man acting incredibly airheaded and dumb, “unintentionally” causing the audience to laugh with his incorrect and simple observations and increasingly exasperating and the frustrating the straight man.

However, unlike such combos in the West, the tsukkomi is really much harsher to the boke, constantly interrupting him (“butting in”) to insult him for his stupidity and correct him or to even hit him on the head with a large paper fan or some other item! The tsukkomi frequently ends an act with the phrase, “Yamesashite moraimasu wa!” which means “Let’s quit!” because he can’t take the boke’s stupidity any longer.

While there are currently female comedian manzai duos and male/female duos in Japan, the art has traditionally been exclusive to men and the number of male performers greatly outnumbers the number of female performers. The M-1 Grand Prix competition for manzai features over 3000 duos competing for the title of best in Japan each year.

See an example of a manzai comedy routine here.

Have you ever seen a manzai comedy routine in person? Do you think the tsukkomi-boke style of humor is funny? Have you ever spoken with a person from Osaka? Did you notice his or her different Japanese accent?

Over time, Osaka became renowned for its cuisine due to its proximity to fresh seafood in the Osaka Bay and vegetables and rice in nearby agricultural areas such as Kawachi. Prominent sake-brewing areas such as Ikeda and Nada are also nearby and supplied fine alcohol. Skilled chefs flocked to the area to experiment with the ingredients and developed their own blends of spices and seasonings. The key ingredients in what is the epitome of Osakan food is usukuchi shoyu (light-colored soy sauce with extra salt) and dashi (kelp stock).

Although you can find these foods virtually anywhere in Japan, the three types of foods that really exemplify Osakan cuisine are takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and kitsune udon. Takoyaki, usually translated as “octopus balls,” is octopus meat served in a ball-shaped fried dough made of flour and dashi. Okonomiyaki, translated as “however you like it” or “Japanese pancakes” is actually not that similar to pancakes in the West. The primary ingredients are batter made of flour, dashi, and yams fried with cabbage. The “however you like it” part comes from the rest of the ingredients, as the customer is free to choose from a plethora of vegetables, seafood, meat and condiments like usukuchi shoyu to add to his or her okonomiyaki, kind of similar to choosing your own toppings for a pizza, but these ingredients are cooked into the batter. (They can, however, also be sprinkled on top.) Kitsune udon (“fox udon”) is udon noodles served in dashi stock and topped with deep-fried tofu that’s sweetened called aburaage.

Osaka is famous for a few other things, too, particularly comedy. Come back Monday for a closer look at Osakan comedy and some information about the Osakan dialect.

Have you ever been to Osaka? Did you make time to eat much of its cuisine? Would you say it was better than Tokyo’s? Which of the three foods discussed in this entry would you most like to try?

Hiroshima is about a 4 to 5 hours’ journey west of Tokyo (depending on whether or not you take the bullet train). Once you arrive in Hiroshima, you may want to head to Peace Memorial Park and the Genbaku Dome-Mae (A-Bomb Dome), which is just 15 minutes south of the JR station by trolley. This Genbaku Dome, which was built in 1915, was one of the last remaining buildings to survive the bombing—almost everything else you see was built after the war.

The Genbaku Dome remains largely as it was left after the bombing, with minor construction done occasionally to keep the dome from falling down. It is a World Heritage Site that is supposed to be preserved indefinitely.

Around the dome is the Peace Memorial Park, where you can see memorials dedicated to the victims and to the ideal of world peace. The entire park is about a mile in length and at the opposite end of the Genbaku Dome is the Peace Memorial Museum, where you can see artifacts, photographs and interviews of the attack and its victims. It can be a disturbing but educational experience.

Besides memorials to the attack, Hiroshima has a number of other sites of interest, including the Hiroshima Castle, which was actually destroyed during the bombing but was rebuilt to be virtually identical to the original 1589 castle during the reconstruction efforts. Not only is the castle visually stunning, but you can find a museum dedicated to the history of the city within.

Have you ever been to Hiroshima? What were some of your favorite stops? If you visit Japan, would you like to visit one of the sites of the atomic bombings? Why or why not?

Location of Okinawa relative to the main island.

While all of Japan is essentially a series of islands, most of the inhabited parts are reachable by train and car once you land in Tokyo. However, to get to Okinawa, you’ll have to take a plane or boat, even from the main islands. Okinawa Island is too far from the mainland for bridges.

Okinawa Island is the most populous area of Okinawa, but Okinawa Prefecture actually consists of hundreds of smaller islands called the Ryukyu Islands that curve southwest of the main island of Japan for roughly 620 miles. The tropical climate of the Ryukyu Islands makes Okinawa Island a popular vacation spot even for native Japanese, as temperatures are warm year-round and swimming, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and other water sports are frequent activities at Okinawa’s many beaches. You can expect temperatures to drop no more than 68˚ F. In the summer, temperatures are more frequently in the 80s and 90s.

Besides the many pleasant beach activities, Okinawa is home to many historical sites that showcase classic Japanese architecture, such as Shuri Castle and Nakagutsu Castle. Parks, caves, and capes are popular destinations for tourists looking to relax and explore. The Churaumi Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world, features enormous whale sharks and mantas.

There are four U.S. military bases in Okinawa, making this the most likely stop for any U.S. serviceman or woman who’s stationed in Japan. This is a rather contentious point with the Japanese government, as these bases were established after World War II as part of the US’ decision to “keep an eye on” the Japanese due to their role in the war. Obviously, times have changed, but the U.S. presence remains. Although the U.S. has agreed every few decades to give up more of its territory, U.S. law and land still makes up 18% of the main Okinawa Island.

Did you know that Japan had tropical islands? If you won an all-expenses paid vacation to either Tokyo or Okinawa (but not both), which would you choose and why? Do you think the U.S. should still have so much military presence in Japan?