Aizu is the western region of Fukushima Prefecture. Aizu Wakamatsu City is a center of the region and as the city names themselves as "Samurai City", the area shows the samurai tradition at the landmarks such as Tsuruga Castle and Aizu Bukeyashiki (Samurai residence). It also has been a town of merchants with beautiful storehouses. Ouchi-juku is an old post town which is famous with its traditional thatched buildings that line its main street.
Kamakura is one of the most popular day trip destinations from Tokyo. It is located about 60 km southwest of Tokyo and accessible by one-hour train ride. It used to be the seat of the Kamakura Government lead by Minamoto Yoritomo and his successors around the 13th century. Kamakura has an old town atmosphere similar to Kyoto with dozens of traditional temples and shrines. The Great Buddha at Kotoku-in is over 11-meters tall and is one of the most renowned landmarks in the town.
Until 1868, Kyoto was the capital of Japan since the end of the 8th century, it is one of the most popular destinations amongst overseas tourists to Japan. With a variety of historically valuable structures such as temples, shrines and Japanese gardens the city draws over 50 million visitors annually from all over the world.