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.
Kobe is a major port city in western Japan that opened to foreign trade and became home to one of the first foreign communities in the 19th century. The city is on a narrow strip of land between mountains and sea, and has a variety of tourist attractions ranging from a vibrant commercial districts that includes a Chinatown, a ropeway, and a cable car that take you to either a garden or an observatory where you can enjoy a commanding view of the entire landscape of the town with the port in the backdrop.
Hiroshima is one of the largest cities in Western Japan located on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. Every year, millions visit its two World Heritage sites, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Itsukushima Shrine. In 1945, Hiroshima was the target of the first atomic bomb and the Peace Memorial Park commemorates this. Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island is famous for its Torii gate that looks like it floats on the water.