Yokohama Chinatown

Yokohama Chinatown (横浜中華街) is Japan's largest chinatown, located in central Yokohama.
Yokohama Chinatown quickly developed, after the port of Yokohama had been one of the first Japanese ports to be opened to foreign trade in 1859. It became the residence of the many Chinese traders who settled down in the city.

Today, a large number of Chinese stores and restaurants can be found in the narrow and colorful streets of Chinatown, while the number of actual residents has been decreasing.

Four colorful gates stand at the entrances to Chinatown, and five more gates can be found within. The Kanteibyo is a gaudily colored temple in the center of Chinatown. Constructed in 1873 by Chinese residents, it is dedicated to the Chinese god of good business and prosperity.

The main attraction of the Yokohama Chinatown, however, is the cuisine offered at its many restaurants and food stands. Popular favorites include steamed buns (manju), ramen noodles and a wide array of other Chinese dishes, many of which have been Japanized to a certain degree.

Various events and festivals are held in Yokohama Chinatown, such as Chinese New Year around the beginning of February.

Minato Mirai 21

Minato Mirai 21 is a seaside urban area in central Yokohama whose name means "harbor of the future". It has many large high-rises, including Japan's tallest building, the Landmark Tower. Until the 1980s the area was a large shipyard, but the shipyard moved and development began for a new city center.

Minato Mirai is blessed with a great location along the water and has a wealth of attractions. Visitors to the area will be able to find shopping centers, hotels, a convention center, an amusement park, a relaxation center with hot spring baths, museums and park space.

Located along the waterfront, the buildings of the Minato Mirai Chuo district ("central district") form the distinctive skyline of Yokohama. At 296 meters, the Landmark Tower is the most recognizable feature. The three Queen's Towers are located beside, each one being a little shorter than the next, followed by the Pan Pacific Hotel and the Pacifico convention center, one of the largest in Japan, which includes the rounded Intercontinental Hotel. The district extends inland, where redevelopment is still ongoing.

Connected to the Chuo district, across from the Pacifico, is a large man made island which constitutes the Minato Mirai Shinko District ("new harbor district"). The most recognizable feature of the island is the Cosmo World Ferris Wheel, which displays the time and was for a period the world's largest clock.

Minato Mirai 21 , Museum

Museums

There are several museums in the Minato Mirai district, including the municipal art gallery and museums on the port of Yokohama, shipping, industry and technology.

Nippon Maru and Yokohama Port Museum

Built in 1930, Nippon Maru is a retired sailing ship that is permanently docked at Minato Mirai and is open to the public. Across from the ship is the Yokohama Port Museum, a recently remodeled museum that has a History Zone illustrating the port's entire history and a Rediscovery Zone which illustrates broader marine topics.

Yokohama Museum of Art

The Museum has seven galleries; three for displaying works from the permanent collection, one for photography, and three for special exhibitions (four per year). The museum focuses on contemporary art as well as Yokohama itself, the city, its role as a port, and its artists.

Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum

The museum has six zones: space, ocean, transportation, daily life discovery, environment and technology quest. The present and future of each zone's theme is presented, with many interactive elements like computer simulators. The museum seems generally geared towards kids.

Minato Mirai 21 , Shopping

Shopping

Minato Mirai offers a wide range of shopping opportunities to visitors. The Landmark Plaza and Queen's Towers have many floors filled with the typical sorts of shops and restaurants that one would expect to find at shopping malls. On the man made island in the Shinko district, shoppers will find a more unique selection of goods at the World Porters Mall and Red Brick Warehouses.

Queen's Square

Queen's Square is located in the lower floors of the three Queen's Towers. They offer a variety of shops and restaurants, including various well known brand stores. The Minato Mirai Station is located in the basement.

Landmark Plaza

The Landmark Plaza is located just beside Queen's Square and is located adjacent to the Landmark Tower. The five floors of the Landmark Plaza feature a similar variety of shops and restaurants to those found in the Queen's Towers, including a Pokemon Center on the 4th floor.

World Porters

The World Porters Mall has six floors, with each one dedicated to a certain theme. From the ground floor up, they are food, fashion, sports and hobby, home and living, broadway (cinema), relaxation and interiors. The broadway floor has a movie theater and amusement center. The food floor includes an extensive supermarket.

Red Brick Warehouses

The Red Brick Warehouses (akarenga soko in Japanese) used to serve the area when it was a port, but have since been converted. They now offer a unique atmosphere for shopping. The two buildings have a number of shops that offer interesting products, as well as some restaurants and floorspace dedicated to events and exhibitions.

Minato Mirai 21 , Entertainment

Entertainment

There are many options for entertainment in the area. The Landmark Tower has an observatory on its 69th floor called the Sky Garden. The Cosmo World amusement park is spread out along the waterfront beside the Queen's Towers and on the man made island of the Shinko District, and offers both exciting roller coasters and attractions for kids. For more sedate entertainment there is the Manyo Club, a great place for relaxation.

Sky Garden Observatory

Located 273 meters in the air, the Landmark Tower's Sky Garden is the highest observatory in the country. The elevator that takes visitors up to the observatory was the fastest in the world when it was built. There is a bar at the observatory with impressive views of the surrounding area.

Cosmo World

The Cosmo World amusement park has a handful of roller coaster rides, carnival attractions, a kid's zone and a large Ferris wheel that doubles as a clock. In the evening the park is illuminated, and adds to the night view of the city.

Manyo Club

The Manyo Club is a spa and relaxation center, offering hot spring baths with water brought in daily by truck from the Izu Peninsula. Paid services include acupuncture, foot pressure therapy and various styles of massage. Other services include restaurants, internet access and relaxation rooms.

Rishiri and Rebun

Rishiri Island( 利尻島 ) and Rebun Island ( 礼文島 ) are two small islands near the northern tip of Hokkaido. The islands are part of the Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park and offer beautiful hiking trails, costal sceneries, alpine flowers and small fishing villages.

Rishiri is a round island with the 1721 meter tall Mount Rishiri at its center. Due to its appearance, the dormant volcano is also known as Rishiri-Fuji. Rebun is longer and flatter than Rishiri and most famous for its wealth of alpine flowers found at sea level due to the harsh climate

Rusutsu SkI Resort

Rusutsu Resort is considered one of the best ski resorts in Hokkaido. It has a large ski area that covers three mountains, each having a variety of long runs with a good mix of groomed trails, great powder and tree runs. It is located close to Lake Toya (Toyako) and is just on the other side of Mount Yotei from Niseko.

A large hotel complex sits at the center of the resort, consisting of the highrise Rusutsu Tower, the North and South Wings, the Highland Lodge and several trailside log cabins. A monorail connects the buildings with each other. A few independently run pensions can also be found in the nearby town center of Rusutsu.

Besides skiing, Rusutsu Resort offers numerous other attractions, including restaurants and shops, pool facilities and hot spring baths, as well as places catering to foreigners such as the Cricket Pub sports bar. Summer activities include golf and an amusement park with over 60 attractions and 8 roller coasters.

Sappora Snow Festival

The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) is held during one week every February in Hokkaido's capital Sapporo. In 2010, the Snow Festival will be held from February 5 through February 11, 2010.

The Sapporo Snow Festival was started in 1950, when high school students built a few snow statues in Odori Park. It has since developed into a large, commercialized event, featuring spectacular snow and ice sculptures and attracting more than two million visitors from Japan and across the world.

The Snow Festival is staged on three sites across Sapporo City: the Odori Site, Susukino Site and Tsudome Site.

The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo's centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The festival's famous large snow sculptures, some more than 15 meters tall and 25 meters wide, are exhibited there. They are lit up daily until 22:00.

Besides about a dozen large snow sculptures, the Odori Site exhibits more than one hundred smaller snow and ice statues and hosts several concerts and events, many of which use the sculptures as their stage.

A great view over Odori Park can be enjoyed from the Sapporo TV Tower, which stands at the eastern end of the park and is opened from 9:00 to 22:30 during the festival (from 8:30 on the weekend). Admission to the top observatory deck costs 700 Yen per adult.

The Susukino Site, located in and named after Sapporo's largest entertainment district, exhibits about one hundred ice sculptures. Susukino is located only one subway stop south of Odori Park. The ice sculptures are lit up daily until midnight (until 22:00 on the festival's final day).




The less centrally located Tsudome Site is a family oriented site with snow slides, snow rafting, snow golf and more snow sculptures. Inside the dome, there are many food stands and a stage for events. The Tsudome Site replaces the Sato Land Site, which was used in the previous three years.

Sapporo , Hokkaido

Sapporo (札幌市) is the capital of Hokkaido and Japan's fifth largest city. Sapporo is also one of the nation's youngest major cities. In 1857, the city's population stood at just seven people.

In the beginning of the Meiji Period, when the development of Hokkaido was started on a large scale, Sapporo was chosen as the island's administrative center and enlarged according to the advice of foreign specialists. Consequently, Sapporo was built based on a North American style rectangular street system.

Sapporo became world famous in 1972 when the Olympic Winter Games were held there. Today, the city is well known for its ramen, beer, and the annual snow festival held in February.

Noboribetsu , Hot Spring Bath , Hokkaido

Noboribetsu is Hokkaido's most famous hot spring resort, offering as many as eleven different kinds of waters, that are considered among Japan's best and most effective.

The resort town consists of numerous ryokan and hotels with hot spring baths. Several of them open their baths during daytime to non-staying guests for typically 700 to 1500 yen. But the best baths are found at Noboribetsu's oldest hotel, the Daiichi Takimotokan. Established in 1858 and located just below to the Jigokudani, the Takimotokan now consists of more than half a dozen modern buildings and includes one of Japan's finest indoor baths.

Hot Spring Bath

Noboribets-onsen has 11 different kinds of hot springs and you can enjoy 7 hot springs at Dai-ichi Takimotokan. This cannot be seen in any other part of the world, and we also have a hot spring that you can enjoy only at Dai-ichi Takimotokan.

The Beautiful Skin Spa

This contains sulfur and is also one of the best sulfurous springs in Noboribetsu. The particular smell comes from hydrogen sulfide. It will expand blood vessels, improve circulation and control skin. It is thought to ease hardening of arteries, high blood pressure, chronic skin diseases, chronic gynecological diseases and cuts.

The Beauty Spa

This bath contains sodium, calcium and magnesium and a less stimulant alkaline bath. When you take this one, it washes away the sebum, making your skin smooth. It is also good for cuts, burns, chronic skin diseases, neuralgia, and anemia. Since this prevents inflammation and allergies, it is good for nettle rash and atopic dermatitis

The Demon Spa

This bath contains sodium, calcium and chloride and is good for chronic diseases of the digestive organs, gynecological diseases, and recovery from fatigue. It also improves your health, bad circulation and reputedly heals cuts and skin burns.

The Panacea Spa

This acidic bath contains sulfur and iron oxides. This is one of the most remarkable hot springs in Noboribetsu. It is good for skin diseases including athlete's foot, or those caused by germs. It also improves both blood formation and circulation by expanding vessels. This bath can improve symptoms related to rheumatism and the menopause. But since this bath is rather acid, those with sensitive skins should wash with pure hot water when they get out

The Heat Spa

This bath contains sodium, calcium and chloride, and the mineral particles cover the skin surface filling the pores. This is why this bath is called the Warmth Spa, because it is good for rheumatism and those who are sensitive to cold.

The Healing Spa

This sulfate spring, equal in clarity to the famous Karlsbad spa in the Czech republic, famous for years as a bath to heal wounds and paralysis. It is also eases high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries and chronic skin diseases.

The Cure Spa

This bath contains sodium, calcium and chloride, and its water has a gentle quality, good for elderly people and those who are rehabilitating, and also good for rheumatism, incapability in the motor nerves, underdevelopment and menopause. The bath will make your skin smooth.

Fuji Mount , Tokyo

Mount Fuji (富士山) is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m (12,388 ft).[1] Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, it is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山). An active volcano[3] that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji is just west of Tokyo, and can be seen on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.

Tokyo Imperial Palace

The current Imperial Palace (Kokyo) is located on the former site of Edo Castle, a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls in the center of Tokyo, a short walk from Tokyo station. It is the residence of Japan's Imperial Family.

Edo Castle used to be the seat of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. In 1868, the shogunate was overthrown, and the country's capital and Imperial Residence were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. In 1888 construction of a new Imperial Palace was completed. The palace was once destroyed during World War Two, and rebuilt in the same style, afterwards.

Sensoji Temple , Tokyo

Sensoji temple (金龍山浅草寺) is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, the center of the shitamachi.

The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.

Tokyo Tower

With 333 meters, Tokyo Tower is 13 meters taller than its model, the Eiffel Tower of Paris, and the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. It was completed in the year 1958 as a symbol for Japan's rebirth as a major economic power, and serves as a television and radio broadcast antenna and tourist attraction.

Visitors can ascend to the main observatory at 150 meters and the special observatory at 250 meters to get a bird's eye view of Tokyo. Under good weather conditions, Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance.

Shibuya , Tokyo

Shibuya (渋谷区) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 208,371 and a density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km².
The name "Shibuya" is also used to refer to the central business district of Shibuya Ward, which surrounds Shibuya Station, one of Tokyo's busiest railway stations. Shibuya is known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area.

World Bazaar

This gateway area to the Park features shops, restaurants, and even a bank with designs that recall a small American town in the early 1900's. Located just steps from the Main Entrance but far from the everyday world.

Slip back in time and try your skill on classic mechanical arcade games from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. Authentic, coin-operated sports-related games, kinetoscopes, tests of strength, pinball machines, and other games can all be enjoyed here.