Yokohama, Akita, Seattle

Yokohama is one of the most visited cities in Japan. It is located on the western coast of Tokyo Bay, directly south of Tokyo. The Yokohama Port is set in the heart of the city and all tourist destinations are within walking distance. It is a cosmopolitan city, where the old and the new, the East and the West blend harmoniously. Minato Mirai is a seaside urban area in central Yokohama with large high-rises, including the Landmark Tower and a wealth of attractions such as shopping centers, hotels, amusement parks, a relaxation center with hot spring baths and museums. It is worth visiting the Sankeien Gardens, a vast genuine Japanese garden that will enchant you with its colors and shapes,its ponds and pagodas.

The area of present-day Akita was part of ancient Dewa Province, and has been inhabited for thousands of years. The Jizōden ruins within the city limits are a major archaeological site with artifacts from the Japanese Paleolithic period through the Jomon and Yayoi periods. During the Nara period, the Yamato court established Akita Castle in 733 AD to bring the local Emishi tribes under its control. The area was ruled by a succession of local samurai clans in the Sengoku period, before coming under the control of the Satake clan of Kubota Domain during the Edo period. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, a castle town developed around Kubota Castle. This representative summer festival began 350 years ago, with similar to tanabata festivals held elsewhere in Japan. During this festival, participants balance 15 meter poles with 230 lanterns on their chins; the main event is held during the evening and night hours, between the 3rd and 6th of August each year.  During the festival, Kanto stunt events are held in Senshu Park during daylight hours involving many amateur participants. This event was first held in 1931 and every subsequent year, except between 1935 and 1946 and in 1953 and 1965.[citation needed] Overseas exhibitions of the festival were performed in Hamburg, Germany, in 1988, Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2002, London, UK, in 2004, and as an opening event at the 2001 World Games.

Seattle is a coastal seaport city, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and the northernmost city and the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The city lies on several hills and has over 2.242 ha of parkland. Among its highlights, visit Pike Place Market, its downtown public market which has been in business since 1907, Space Needle, the vertical icon of the city looks like a spaceship on stilts and gives a great view of the city from the top, the Olympic Sculpture Park, an outdoor sculpture garden. which spreads over 9 acres of a seaside bluff north of downtown, transformed from an industrial backwater into the home of artwork, Seattle Art Museum and Seattle’s Chinatown, which is almost as old as the city, emerging in the 1880s. Take a long walk at downtown waterfront, a broad sidewalk along the harborfront with shops, eateries (fish and chips is always a favorite) and wooden piers, make a stop at Seattle Aquarium and take a ride on Seattle Great Wheel, a 175- foot tall Ferris wheel, which offers magnificent views.