My favourite cities...

Having just come back from Hiroshima this weekend I have decided to make a list of my favourite Japanese cities - High Fidelity style. So here's my top 5 Japanese cities (in no particular order) -

1. Hiroshima: What a cool city! Didn't really expect much before I went but was very surprised when I got there. Despite the terrible tradegy all those years ago there is a really good atmosphere in ths place. The Hiroshima museum especially was very well-done I thought, displaying what I considered to be a very accurate picture of what happened 60 years ago. Also the local speciality - Hiroshima okonomiyaki is better than Osaka's.
Nightlife: Good. Lots to do.
Site-seeing: What with the powerful symbolism of the Atomic bomb dome, coupled with the Itsukushima 'one of Japan's best sites' Torii at Miyajima - this is all you want from a city.
Down-side: Callum's hiccup episodes after a few pints.

2. Kanazawa: The high point of this place is definitely the ninja temple and Ken-roku-en gardens without a doubt: the garden being what you expect from a Japanese garden; and the temple being one of the most unusual I have ever seen.
Nightlife: Don't know. Suspect it's pretty good though.
Site-seeing: There's a lot to see. Essentially you can really get a good sense of Japanese culture (old and new) with the garden, many temples, the Samurai house and the Geisha district. Bonus point for not featuring on most people's tourist trail of Japan (being favored over Kyoto).
Down-side: A long way to walk between all the places of interest (but that really is nit-picking).

3. Nagoya: As you can probably tell from earlier entries - I really like Nagoya. It has big wide open streets and it doesn't feel really crowded like Osaka and Tokyo. However I think having a friend living there might well impair my judgement somewhat, because when it comes down to sight-seeing there really isn't much to do. Although it does have the Tokugawa museum which has loads of old samurai swords and other cool stuff from that period in Japanese history.
Nightlife: I would say as good as Tokyo or Osaka, if not better. Gets all the big world names in when they come to Japan. In fact compared to clubs I have been to in Osaka and Tokyo it definitely is better.
Sight-seeing: Not really much other than the expo (finished now), the new old-style castle and the Tokugawa musuem. There may be more, but nothing that particularly grabs the eye.
Down-side: Sight-seeing - it lacks all the things that Kanazawa boasts, namely old temples, shrines etc.

4. Kyoto: What can you say? It's definitely the best big city to visit as there is so much old stuff. More temples and shrines than you can shake a large stick at, beautiful gardens, an old castle and lots more. It's very touristy though especially at the big temples like Kiyomizudera, but a little walk off the beaten track and you find loads of other interesting but less-crowded places. Some really beautiful walks as well (Philosopher's path for example).
Nightlife: Don't know.
Sight-seeing: Everything you'd expect at the cultural capital.
Down-side: Too touristy at the main sites.

5. Nara: I like this city, but out of all of the above, I would put this at no 5 on the list. It's small, there are some beautiful walks and its probably got one of Japan's best temples -Todaiji. But all-in-all there is really not enough to do here if you stay longer than one or two days. It's a city, but feels more like a town, which of course has its good and bad points.
Night-life: No idea. But doesn't strike me as a place which would have much.
Sight-seeing: As a daytrip I think Nara would score top marks. You can have a really interesting and packed day looking around all the temples and Shrines in Nara park, deer watching, and so on. But anything more that than and I think you're going to be pushing it.
Down-side: It's just a day trip thing. But that isn't really a bad thing.

So there we are! If I could have put Sapporo in I would have done, but there's not enough space and I've only allowed myself 5!