#1. Yokohama
Yokohama is Japan's second largest city with a population of over three million. Yokohama is located less than half an hour south of Tokyo by train, and is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture. Towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), during which Japan maintained a policy of self-isolation, Yokohama's port was one of the first to be opened to foreign trade in 1859. Consequently, Yokohama quickly grew from a small fishing village into one of Japan's major cities.
Yokohama contains a large Chinatown with hundreds of Chinese restaurants and shops. It’s also known for Sankei-en Garden, a botanical park containing preserved Japanese residences from different eras, and the seaside Minato Mirai district, site of the 296m Landmark Tower.
Every 3 years, the city hosts the Yokohama Triennale, an exhibition of modern art, at venues like the Yokohama Museum of Art, which also has a permanent collection of 20th-century art. Other museums focus on the nautical (the Yokohama Port Museum features a retired merchant ship), industrial (the Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum is filled with mechanical gadgets) and edible (the Raumen and Cupnoodles museums examine ramen noodle soup). The green strip of Yamashita Park fronts the harbor, and Hakkeijima Sea Paradise offers an amusement park and an aquarium.