Kushiro, Muroran, Sakata, Nagoya, Kochi, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Yokohama

Kushiro is located in Hokkaido, Japan. The Kushiro area is volcanically active and small tremors from off-shore earthquakes occur regularly. Kushiro is a rural area and home to Japan's largest marshland. The city is very popular to bird lovers because it offers them the chance to watch the endangered Japanese cranes all year-round. It is worth visiting the Kushiro City Museum with the unique architecture, where many excellent exhibits representing the natural history of the area can be found.

Muroran is a historical city that today numbers around 100,000 residents. The main harbor with a lot of cement factories, steel mills, oil refineries and shipyards, contrasts the picturesque hills that surround the city.

Explore the port area and take advantage of the dolphin and the whale watching opportunities. The city also serves as a gateway to the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts thanks to skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and cycling routes during summer, along with its popular hot springs.

Hokkaido's capital, Sapporo, is both Japan's fifth-largest city (almost 2 million inhabitants) and one of its newest. It's a cosmopolitan place to visit, with many lively restaurants and bars. Sapporo was also the host of the 1972 Winter Olympics, so there are many excellent ski slopes and facilities (in summer, take a ski lift to the observatory top of the ski jump for thrilling views).

The area of present-day Sakata was the location of the provincial capital of ancient Dewa Province, although the precise location has yet to be discovered by archeologists. A port at the mouth of the Mogami River is known to have existed since the Kamakura period. Although silting rendered it less important in the Muromachi period, the area developed as a major center for the kitamaebune coastal trade during the Edo period. By the early Meiji period, the Honma clan, a local merchant clan, dominated trade and emerged as the largest landholder in Japan.

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is Japan's third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area. It is located on the Pacific coast on central Honshu. It is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Kitakyushu. It is also the center of Japan's third-largest metropolitan region, known as the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area. The city and the region are known for its unique local Nagoya cuisine Dishes include: Tebasaki: chicken wings marinated in a sweet sauce with sesame seeds, basically a type of yakitori, Tenmusu: a rice ball wrapped with nori that is filled with deep-fried tempura shrimp.

Kōchi is the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture located on the island of Shikoku in Japan.

Kōchi is the main city of the prefecture with over 40% of its population. A symbol of the city is its most famous dish, katsuo tataki, made by lightly searing and seasoning tuna.

Kōchi Castle still exists in its pre-restoration form, and is one of the main tourist attractions. Other places of interest in the city centre are the Obiyamachi shopping arcade, the regular Sunday street markets which are close to a kilometre in length, and Harimaya-bashi, a bridge that featured in a famous Kōchi song about the forbidden love of a Buddhist priest.

Nagasaki is located on a large valley on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It is a beautiful harbor city that can be explored on foot. Nagasaki was the second city targeted by an atomic bomb during World War II, after Hiroshima. The Peace Park with its soaring Peace Statue is set directly on the site of the nuclear explosion, next to the Atomic Bomb Museum.  Above the park lies the Nagasaki International Cultural Hall, with exhibits on victims of the bomb.

Kagoshima lies at the top of the Satsuma Peninsula, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. The city’s port is situated along the coast of Kinko Bay. Kagoshima has mild climate, streets with palm trees and is dominated by Sakura Jima, an active volcano which every now and then dumps fine ash and obscures the sun like fog, creating a mythical and captivating landscape. It is a historical city and home of the mythical samurai Saigo Takamori, the most influential samurai in Japanese history that played a major role in the Satsuma Rebellion.

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.