Nagoya or Tokyo?

Neither city has anywhere to swim on its own waterfront, and both send swimmers about an hour south by train in July and August. The beaches themselves differ in kind.

From Nagoya you reach the Chita Peninsula, where beaches such as Utsumi are wide and sheltered but the water is not very clear, and small islands like Shinojima lie a ferry ride beyond. From Tokyo the Shonan coast offers dark volcanic sand at Yuigahama, Zushi and Enoshima, and a swim can be paired with Kamakura's temples, though summer weekends are crowded.

Nagoya eats very well within one strong regional tradition: hitsumabushi eel eaten three ways, miso katsu, peppery tebasaki wings and misonikomi udon, plus the morning-service breakfast and cheap snacks in Osu. It is a city to eat its own dishes rather than everything.

Tokyo is on another scale. Specialist counters that have made one dish for decades, the depachika halls, the Tsukiji outer market and the alleys under the tracks at Yurakucho sit alongside more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else, and French, Italian and Chinese cooking of real distinction. The fine-dining tier that thins out in Nagoya is where Tokyo is deepest.

Both lost most of their old fabric in 1945, so in each the heritage comes as separate sights in a modern city. Nagoya's set is compact: the rebuilt castle and its painted-cypress Honmaru Palace, Atsuta Shrine in its forest, the Tokugawa Art Museum's samurai treasures, and the Toyota and railway museums for anyone curious about industry.

Tokyo has far more to fill the days. Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu and the Imperial Palace moats are only the start; Ueno Park alone holds the Tokyo National Museum's unrivalled collection of Japanese art, and the Nezu, the Mori and the city's modern architecture add days more.

Nagoya's nights gather in Sakae and Nishiki, with izakaya, karaoke and a few clubs that fill at weekends, but the city has a name for early nights and midweek is mostly office workers at dinner.

Tokyo is one of the great nights out anywhere. Golden Gai's two hundred tiny bars, whole buildings of whisky and vinyl bars, Omoide Yokocho's smoky yakitori stalls and the clubs of Shibuya and Roppongi give a range Nagoya cannot touch, shaped by the choice at midnight between the last train home or staying out until dawn.

Both sit on wide plains, so real landscape means a train ride, and Tokyo's is the better reach. Mount Takao is an hour away, the Okutama gorges lie inside Tokyo's own western edge, and Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes bring the classic views of Mount Fuji, with the summit itself climbable in midsummer.

From Nagoya the options are gentler: the ropeway and trails of Mount Gozaisho, Korankei's autumn maples, and the Nakasendo walk through the Kiso Valley about two hours north. The Japan Alps are closer, but need more than a day.

Both are superb bases, and the difference lies in where they point. Nagoya's place on the shinkansen puts Kyoto about 35 minutes away and Osaka under an hour, with Ise Jingu, Nara, the original castle keeps of Inuyama and Hikone, and the pottery towns of Seto and Tokoname all in range.

Tokyo looks to its own region instead: Kamakura's Great Buddha and Zen temples, Nikko's Toshogu shrine in cedar forest, Yokohama's harbour, Hakone's lakes and the merchant streets of Kawagoe. Kyoto, the easy outing from Nagoya, is just out of comfortable day range from Tokyo.

Both are safe, clean and easy with children, and Tokyo has the edge. Disneyland and DisneySea across the bay, the Ghibli Museum, Miraikan and Ueno Zoo come with spotless toilets, baby rooms in stations and food that suits fussy eaters.

Nagoya holds its own with orcas and belugas at the port aquarium, Legoland, Ghibli Park and the rides at Nagashima Spa Land. The catch is that these sit in different corners of the city, so expect more time on trains.

Tokyo is one of the easiest cities in the world to move around: the densest rail network anywhere, English signs, a station near every sight, and neighbourhoods such as Yanaka or the walk from Shibuya to Harajuku that are a pleasure on foot. Its giant stations and crammed rush hours are the price.

Nagoya works smoothly but feels different. Its postwar grid of very wide avenues is easy to read yet dull to walk beyond the Sakae, castle and Osu core, and the smaller subway network, sharing one IC card with the regional railways, takes you to everything else.

Nagoya's shopping is solid rather than special: department stores around Sakae and above the station, luxury brands on the avenues between, and the covered Osu arcades for anime, secondhand clothes and the temple flea market. Arimatsu shibori and Seto pottery are good buys.

Tokyo is a destination for shopping in itself. Ginza and Omotesando cover luxury, Harajuku and Shimokitazawa have some of the best vintage and independent labels anywhere, and specialist streets go deep: Kappabashi for knives, Jimbocho for books, Akihabara for electronics.

Nagoya is the cheaper of the two, and the saving is mostly in beds. Its many business hotels keep rooms moderate, and eating cheaply is easy, with eel the main splurge and shinkansen trips the cost that mounts up.

Tokyo eats just as cheaply if you follow the locals to ramen, set lunches and convenience stores, and many shrines and parks are free. The money goes on small central rooms, which climb sharply in cherry-blossom season and Golden Week, and on taxis and cocktail bars.

Nagoya has a respectable programme: kabuki at the Misono-za, Noh near the castle, the Nagoya Philharmonic and touring opera at the Aichi Arts Center, though most of it assumes Japanese and needs checking in advance.

Tokyo's stage is far richer and easier for visitors to try. The Kabuki-za sells single-act tickets, the Takarazuka Revue offers all-female spectacle, Suntory Hall and the NHK Symphony anchor a deep classical season, and live houses in Shimokitazawa and Koenji, plus jazz listening bars, have something on every night.

Both share Japan's everyday bathing culture, and Tokyo offers more of it. Hundreds of neighbourhood sento, some with dark mineral hot-spring water, large bathing complexes with saunas and Hakone's onsen inns about ninety minutes away give plenty of choice, and quiet temple grounds and backstreets offset the crowds.

Nagoya relies on its super sento, the hot-spring complex at Nagashima and Gero Onsen, a scenic two hours into the mountains and best with an overnight stay. Tokugawaen and Shirotori gardens supply the calm in a city that is orderly rather than restful.