Aomori is mainly known for producing apples, and inevitably, the area offers all kinds of apple-based culinary delights: warm apple juice, apple mousse and apple pies to name just a few. But I love the refurbished port area, which now offers the opportunity for beautiful walks by the water.

Bandai Bridge is considered as the symbol of Niigata and is one of the city’s most scenic spots, especially at night. After dropping our luggage at the hotel, we walked down to the bridge from the Showa period, lit up like a Christmas tree over the Shinano River. The 1964 quake shattered Niigata, but the arch shaped, stone bridge stood strong among the rubble even as everything around it crumbled.

The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge is world’s longest suspension bridge, which links the city of Kobe on the Japanese mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island.