A Journey from Glacier Majesty to Japanese Grace

Vancouver is a sophisticated coastal city located to the south of British Columbia, Canada. The city is linguistically and ethnically diverse as reflected in the fact that 52 percent of its inhabitants do not speak English as their first language. Ranked highly in worldwide ‘liveable city’ rankings for many years and being surrounded by nature’s scenery at its best, makes tourism its second largest industry. Read more about Vancouver, Canada

Seward is the most often used cruise ship port for Anchorage, Alaska. (Whittier is used by Princess Cruises.) It lies at the head of a fjord that enters the Gulf of Alaska in the North Pacific Ocean. Seward is a two to four hour trip by car, bus or train from Anchorage. Read more about Anchorage (Seward), USA

Kushiro is the capital city of the Kushiro Subprefecture and the most populous city in eastern Hokkaido, Japan. It is situated along both banks of the mouth of the Kushiro River, facing the Pacific Ocean. The natural year-round ice-free harbour has been transformed into a very large commercial and fishing port that serves the nearby coalfield. Read more about Kushiro, Japan

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, situated on the northernmost tip of the main Japanese island facing Hokkaido. It has a cold maritime climate with short cool summers and has heavy snowfalls in winter. It is a World Heritage Site, as it has the world's largest virgin forest of beech trees. Read more about Aomori, Japan

Tokyo, located on the eastern side of the main island of Honshu, is the core of the most populated area in the world (urban area 38M). The small fishing village of Edo was fortified in 1457 with Edo Castle (The Imperial Palace now stands at this location) and became one of the largest cities in the world by the 18th C. Its stringent policy of seclusion ended in 1854 and opened Japan to outside trade. Read more about Tokyo, Japan