Fukuoka or Nagoya?

Fukuoka is the better choice for a swim. Momochi Seaside Park lies within the city for an evening paddle, and the clear water and white sand of Itoshima are less than an hour west, with Shikanoshima and Nokonoshima as quieter options.

Nagoya's own waterfront is port and industry. The nearest beaches, on the Chita Peninsula, are wide but sheltered and murky, and local families fill them at weekends. In both cities swimming is really a July and August extra.

Both are serious eating cities, but with different flavours. Fukuoka is about tonkotsu ramen, very fresh Genkai Sea fish and mentaiko, eaten at evening yatai stalls that are the closest thing in Japan to street food.

Nagoya's cooking is richer and sweeter, built on dark red miso. You go to specialist restaurants for hitsumabushi eel or tebasaki wings, and start the day with the café custom of morning service. Neither city has the international range of Tokyo.

Nagoya has more to see. The rebuilt castle's Honmaru Palace in painted cypress, the forest setting of Atsuta Shrine and the samurai collection at the Tokugawa Art Museum are a stronger set than anything in Fukuoka. The Toyota and railway museums add a story of modern industry that Fukuoka lacks.

Fukuoka's best sights are close together in old Hakata, where Shofukuji, Tochoji's wooden Buddha and Kushida Shrine are a short walk apart. Its castle is only walls and turrets, and two or three days are enough for the whole city.

Fukuoka is the better city for a night out. Evenings start at the riverside stalls in Nakasu, then move on to the craft beer and whisky bars in the backstreets of Daimyo or the student strip of Oyafuko-dori, and they run late.

Nagoya's Sakae and Nishiki have tiny bars, karaoke and a few clubs that fill at weekends. On other nights the crowd is mostly office workers who leave early. Neither city is made for dancing until dawn.

The outdoors is about as good in both, but the landscapes differ. Fukuoka's nature is coastal: the pond loop in Ohori Park, cycling paths on the Uminonakamichi sandbar, flower slopes on Nokonoshima and the rocky capes and rice terraces of Itoshima, with hikes in the Sefuri hills.

Nagoya sits on a flat, built-up plain, so its scenery is inland and further away. The choices are the Mount Gozaisho ropeway, Korankei's autumn maples and the old Nakasendo road through the Kiso Valley.

Both are excellent bases, and the real difference is where they lead. From Nagoya, Kyoto is about 35 minutes away, Ise Jingu and Nara are within reach, and the original keeps at Inuyama and Hikone are easy outings. That puts Japan's best-known heritage right at hand.

Fukuoka opens up Kyushu instead: Dazaifu's shrine, Nagasaki's layered port history, Kumamoto Castle and the pottery villages of Arita. Hiroshima and Miyajima are also only about an hour away by shinkansen.

Nagoya has more for children. Its port aquarium with orcas and belugas, Legoland, Ghibli Park, the huge Higashiyama Zoo and Nagashima Spa Land go well beyond anything Fukuoka has. The catch is that these sights sit in different corners of the city, so expect long train rides.

Fukuoka makes up for this by being compact and calm. Marine World and its seaside park, the Anpanman museum and the short ferry to Nokonoshima are all easy half-days.

Fukuoka is the easier city to arrive in and move through. The airport sits on the subway, only minutes from Hakata Station, and the flat centre links Hakata, Nakasu, Tenjin and Daimyo with walks of about a quarter of an hour, crossing the river on the way.

Nagoya's post-war grid of very wide avenues is simple to read on a map but long and tiring on foot beyond Sakae, the castle and Osu, so the subway and the sightseeing loop bus do more of the work. One IC card covers the subway and the JR, Meitetsu and Kintetsu lines, and no car is needed. In Fukuoka a car only helps for the Itoshima coast.

Shopping is close in these two, and both centre on big department stores with excellent food halls in the basement. Fukuoka's edge is in the side streets of Daimyo and Imaizumi, a short walk from Tenjin. Small fashion labels, select shops and vintage racks there make for an afternoon of browsing that Nagoya's thinner independent scene can't match.

Nagoya has more of the big names, with luxury and international houses along the wide avenues around Sakae. For something less polished, the covered arcades of Osu around the Kannon temple are full of anime goods, electronics and second-hand clothing. They make a scruffier and more playful hunt than anything in Fukuoka.

Costs are much the same, with business hotels and set lunches keeping both cities affordable for Japan. Fukuoka saves you money with its quick, cheap airport subway and free temples and parks. Bills rise with sushi dinners and nights in Nakasu.

In Nagoya, the morning service breakfasts help a tight budget, and some travellers stay there as a cheaper base for Kyoto. Eel dinners, shinkansen day trips and theme-park tickets are where the money goes.

Nagoya has the fuller stage programme. Opera and ballet play at the Aichi Arts Center, the Nagoya Philharmonic has a regular season, the Misono-za hosts grand kabuki seasons and a dedicated Noh theatre stands near the castle. Most of it is in Japanese, so check what is on first.

Fukuoka has Hakataza and the symphony hall in the Acros building. Its most memorable show is out in the streets, though: the dawn float races of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July and the Dontaku parade in May.

Both cities take part in everyday Japanese bathing, with sento and large bath complexes, so there is little between them. Fukuoka has historic Futsukaichi Onsen half an hour away and Beppu and Yufuin as a long day out. The city itself feels unusually relaxed, with sea air and Ohori Park.

Nagoya has the big Nagashima complex nearby, and Gero Onsen in the mountains is worth a night in a ryokan. Its working streets are orderly rather than restful, so calm comes from the teahouse gardens of Tokugawaen and Shirotori.