Hiroshima or Kanazawa?

Neither city is worth choosing for the beach, and both have a swimming season of about two months. The beaches themselves are quite different. Hiroshima's swimming is on the calm, sheltered Inland Sea, but only on small island beaches reached by ferry, and jellyfish arrive late in the season.

Kanazawa has long, open sandy strands on the Sea of Japan just outside town, from Uchinada up to Chirihama, where cars drive on the hard sand. Outside high summer, though, that coast is windswept and grey.

Both cities eat well, but in very different ways. Hiroshima is casual and centred on one dish: layered okonomiyaki eaten off the griddle in buildings full of small stalls, along with winter oysters and sake tastings in Saijo.

Kanazawa has more depth and more refinement. Omicho Market's seafood bowls and winter snow crab, Kaga cooking such as jibuni and nodoguro, and wagashi with matcha in the chaya teahouses give it a fine-dining tier and a sweet tradition that Hiroshima lacks.

Kanazawa has much more to see. The war left Hiroshima little older architecture, so its culture is concentrated in one deeply affecting place: the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum. The castle grounds and Shukkeien garden are the main sights beyond them.

Kanazawa kept its Edo townscape. Kenroku-en, the wooden teahouses of Higashi Chaya and the canal-side samurai walls of Nagamachi can be explored on foot, and the 21st Century Museum and the D.T. Suzuki Museum add a strong modern side.

Hiroshima has the better nights out. Nagarekawa is the biggest entertainment district in its region, a grid of stacked bars, izakaya and karaoke that stays busy past midnight, with a few clubs and some bars used to foreign visitors. It gets busiest after a home baseball game.

Kanazawa's Katamachi is smaller and quieter, with sake bars and snack bars, plus a few bars in old wooden houses in the chaya districts. A long dinner followed by a drink or two is the realistic plan there.

Hiroshima's outdoors is easier to reach and more varied. Ferries cross a calm sea of forested islands. On Miyajima you can walk or ride up Mount Misen among wild deer, Sandankyo Gorge has autumn colours, and the Shimanami Kaido is one of Japan's best-known cycling routes.

Kanazawa has grander country further out, with Mount Hakusan's alpine trails and ski slopes and the rugged Noto coast, but most of it needs a car. Its long, snowy winters suit skiers more than walkers.

From Hiroshima the day trips follow the Inland Sea and the shinkansen line, and slightly more of them are easy to reach. Miyajima's floating torii is under an hour away, Iwakuni's arched bridge and the old ports of Onomichi and Tomonoura are close by, and Himeji Castle and Kurashiki are a fast train ride east.

Kanazawa's best trips head into the mountains instead. Shirakawa-go's thatched farmhouses are a bus ride away, and Takayama's merchant streets make a longer day. The Kaga spa towns and the Zen monastery of Eihei-ji lie to the south.

Both cities are safe, clean and easy to manage with children, so the choice comes down to the kind of fun on offer. Hiroshima's is outdoors and lively: feeding the deer on Miyajima, the ropeway, the rabbits of Okunoshima and a singing baseball crowd. Parents need to think carefully about the Peace Memorial Museum's graphic displays.

In Kanazawa, the 21st Century Museum's pool installation and the trick doors of the ninja temple are the highlights. Beyond those, the gardens and teahouses can feel slow to small children, and the dinosaur museum in Fukui is a full day out.

Hiroshima is easier to get around. Its flat centre is walkable, the largest tram network in Japan runs all the way to the Miyajima ferry, and the shinkansen stop puts you on the main line between Osaka and Fukuoka.

Kanazawa's sights fit into a pleasant walking band of about 2km. Beyond that, the city has only buses, and the loop lines get crowded. Bike-share helps outside winter, but snow and slush make the colder months harder going.

Kanazawa is the more rewarding place to shop because its crafts are richer. It makes nearly all of Japan's gold leaf, and Kutani porcelain, Kaga yuzen silk and Wajima lacquer are sold by serious makers as well as souvenir shops.

Hiroshima's shopping centres on the long Hondori arcade. Its best finds are Kumano brushes, Miyajima wooden rice paddles, momiji manju cakes and Saijo sake, which make good things to take home but are a narrower range.

Costs are much the same in both cities, with plenty of fairly priced business hotels and cheap everyday meals, but the extra costs fall in different places. In Hiroshima, okonomiyaki keeps food bills low and the Peace Park is free to walk. The costs add up through shinkansen day trips and nights on Miyajima.

In Kanazawa, the local specialities are the luxury: kaiseki dinners, snow crab and ryokan nights in the spa towns, plus the bus to Shirakawa-go.

Kanazawa's traditional stage is a little richer. It has regular Noh at the prefectural theatre, geisha dance and shamisen in the chaya teahouses, and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, one of Japan's leading chamber orchestras.

Hiroshima's best evening is kagura, a loud, masked Shinto dance-drama staged with visitors in mind. Otherwise it relies on its symphony orchestra and touring shows, and in both cities spoken theatre is in Japanese.

Kanazawa is much the better place to unwind. Yuwaku Onsen is about half an hour away, the Kaga hot-spring towns about an hour, and many hotels in town have hot-spring baths. Teahouses and garden mornings set an unhurried pace.

Hiroshima has no hot springs of its own. Sento, super-sento and hotel rooftop baths fill the gap, and the nearest true onsen is about an hour away. A ryokan night on Miyajima is its quietest option.