cities in Japan
 

I don't see mention of Yokohama, and Nagasaki in tour info. We are supposed to cruise and stop in those 2 places and Tokyo and Kobe, is this a good choice?

Hello Riggsgirl

can you post more information about your cruise? When and how long are you bearthing at each port? For example, what season are you travelling- spring or summer? Length of stay at each port could also help in determining what you can do. For example, a stay of three or four days in Kobe means you could possibly do day trips to Kyoto and Osaka, as both those cities are nearby.

We are going in late September. 3 days in Kobe, 2 in Yokohama and we end in Nagasaki.

Have you looked at the Japan-Guide web site? There is information on both cities there.

Go to: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623a.html

Scroll down until you find the names the cities and you can click on them for further info.

Sounds like a lovely cruise!

thank you, the Japan guide helped alot!!

Yokohama is the port for Tokyo, and Kobe for Kyoto. Both cities are accessible by train from their respective ports and that's what cruise-ship passengers typically do. Nagasaki is in a beautiful setting; well worth a visit. Interestingly, all three ports are historic points of early western contact with Japan.

You have to ask some experts again and then they will let you know and you can see mention of Yokohama, and Nagasaki in tour info.

<i>all three ports are historic points of early western contact with Japan</i>

That is an excellent observation.

There certainly are points of interest related to the opening of western contact with Japan in Nagasaki (been there) and Kobe (read about). A lot of what you will see in Nagasaki is related to that. Might want to spend part of a day to see related sites in Kobe. I don't remember now if Yokohama retains anything from that period.

Frankly, from a Western tourist's point of view, there isn't much to draw you to Yokohama (been to all three a few times).
The main interest centers on the Foreigners district, with late 19th - ealy 20th century Western-style buildings (many rebuilt after wartime damage). Thre is a foreigners' cemetery, but sadly it's usually closed to the public. While it draws a lot of Japanese visitors from far and wide, frankly it's of limited interest to others. Another attraction is the Chinatown, the biggest in Japan, and while it's packed with restaurants and shops selling Chinese goods and foodstuff, again it's no more interesting than chinatowns elsewhere. Most of Yokohama was badly damaged in WW2 and rebuilt without much sense of style or history.
Nagasaki has a style of its own, and has retained much of the atmosphere of a thriving port, commercial and samurai city. There are a couple of churches worth looking up, with one (Oura Catholic Church) associated the rediscovery of hidden (crypto-) Christians in 1865. Also the sites commemorating the atomic bomb are sombre and moving.