Tokyo or Singapore?

Neither city is a beach destination, but they fall short in different ways. Singapore's swimming happens on Sentosa's man-made sand at Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong, where the water is calm and warm all year but murky, with tankers lining the horizon. The lagoons of St John's and Lazarus, a ferry ride away, are quieter.

Tokyo's own bay shore is for strolling, so a swim means an hour on the train to the dark volcanic sand of Kamakura, Zushi and Enoshima, and only in July and August. Singapore gives you warm water on the doorstep in any month, while Tokyo has a more natural coastline with a short and crowded season.

Both are among the great eating cities of Asia, and food alone could justify either trip. Singapore's gift is variety in one place: a hawker centre such as Maxwell or Old Airport Road puts chicken rice, laksa, satay and roti prata side by side, drawing on four cooking traditions for very little money.

Tokyo goes deeper still. It runs on specialisation, with counters that have perfected one dish of soba, sushi, tempura or yakitori over decades, and on top of that come a fine-dining tier no other city matches, the depachika food halls and serious sake, whisky and coffee. Over a longer stay, Tokyo keeps showing you more.

Tokyo has the weightier sights, even though the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 bombing destroyed most of its old city. Senso-ji in Asakusa, the forested Meiji Jingu shrine, the Imperial Palace walls and the lanes of Yanaka survive or were rebuilt, and the museums of Ueno Park, led by the Tokyo National Museum, could fill several days on their own.

Singapore's heritage is younger and more compact: the National Gallery's Southeast Asian collection in the old Supreme Court, the Asian Civilisations and Peranakan museums, and the temples and mosques of Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam, with Marina Bay as its modern showpiece. You can see it in two or three days, which would barely scratch the surface of Tokyo.

Tokyo is much the better place for a night out. Golden Gai's two hundred tiny bars, izakaya in the lanes around every station, whole buildings of whisky and vinyl bars, and clubs in Shibuya and Roppongi that run until the first morning train give it a range and staying power Singapore cannot match.

Singapore is about a polished drink rather than a long night. Its best evenings are spent on rooftop terraces over Marina Bay or in the cocktail bars of the Keong Saik and Telok Ayer shophouses. The club scene at Clarke Quay is small and heavy alcohol taxes make every round costly.

Tokyo reaches further into real landscape. Mount Takao is about an hour away by train, the Okutama valleys have gorges and cedar forest, and Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes offer the classic views of Fuji. In the city itself, Shinjuku Gyoen and Yoyogi Park come into their own with the cherry blossom and the November colours.

Singapore's green is genuine tropical rainforest, but there is not much of it: Bukit Timah and the MacRitchie treetop walk with their macaques, the wetland birds of Sungei Buloh and a bicycle ride round Pulau Ubin. The island is flat and the humidity limits walking to early mornings.

This is where the two cities differ most. Tokyo is one of the best bases in Asia: Kamakura's Great Buddha and Zen temples, Nikko's Toshogu shrine in its cedar forest, the harbour at Yokohama, the clay-walled merchant houses of Kawagoe and the hot springs of Hakone are all within a few hours by train.

Singapore, as an island state, has little in reach. Border queues on the causeway can swallow a day in Johor Bahru, Bintan and Batam are resort islands rather than towns to explore, and Malacca really needs an overnight stay. Visitors who want variety usually fly onwards.

Both are about as easy as big cities get with children: safe, clean, full of lifts and good at food that young eaters accept. Singapore's highlights are the Mandai wildlife parks, with the Night Safari after dark, and Sentosa's Universal Studios, aquarium and calm beaches.

Tokyo has a little more to offer, with Disneyland and DisneySea across the bay, the Ghibli Museum, Ueno Zoo and Miraikan, plus spotless toilets and baby rooms in the stations. Its difficulties are rush-hour trains, huge stations and the heat of July and August. In Singapore the heat lasts all year, so outings need planning for mornings and evenings in every season.

Both have outstanding public transport and neither needs a car. Singapore's MRT is the simpler system, air-conditioned and step-free, and you can tap a contactless bank card at the gates. Taxis are cheap for short hops, but the heat keeps walking brief, often under covered walkways.

Tokyo's network is the densest in the world and the trains run to the minute. Between stations the city is a pleasure on foot, from Shibuya to Harajuku or through Yanaka. The price is complexity: vast stations such as Shinjuku, crammed rush hours and a last train around midnight.

Tokyo is a shopping destination in its own right. The luxury houses and the century-old Mitsukoshi stand in Ginza, vintage clothing and independent labels fill Harajuku and Shimokitazawa, and there are whole districts for electronics in Akihabara, kitchen knives in Kappabashi and books in Jimbocho. Lacquer, ceramics, washi and indigo of real quality are easy to find.

Singapore's shopping mostly happens in the air-conditioned malls of Orchard Road and under Marina Bay Sands, which are vast but much alike. The character lies elsewhere: boutiques on Haji Lane, design shops in Tiong Bahru, spices and gold in Little India and Chinatown, and Peranakan beadwork and porcelain.

Neither city is cheap, but Tokyo is the easier on a budget. Both are generous on food and transport: Singapore has its hawker stalls and Tokyo its ramen, set lunches and convenience-store meals, and the trains in both are fairly priced.

The gap opens over everything else. Singapore's hotel rooms are among the dearest in Asia, alcohol is heavily taxed, and the wildlife parks and Sentosa charge high entry fees. Tokyo's rooms are small and not cheap either, but many of its shrines, temples, parks and gardens cost little or nothing.

Singapore's stage life centres on the Esplanade by the bay, with its concert hall, theatre and free outdoor shows, alongside the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's season and touring musicals at Marina Bay Sands. Much of what plays there is brought in from abroad. Chinese opera and Indian classical dance appear mainly around temple festivals rather than on a regular stage.

Tokyo goes much further, with permanent theatres for its own traditions: kabuki at the Kabuki-za, where single-act tickets make an easy first taste, Noh at dedicated stages and the glitter of the Takarazuka Revue. Add the NHK Symphony at Suntory Hall, opera and ballet at the New National Theatre, and bands every night in the live houses of Shimokitazawa and Koenji, though spoken theatre is almost all in Japanese.

Tokyo has a genuine bathing culture woven into daily life. There are neighbourhood sento with painted Mount Fuji murals, some fed by natural hot-spring water, large bathing complexes with saunas where people spend whole afternoons, and the onsen inns of Hakone about ninety minutes away. Many baths still turn away guests with tattoos.

Singapore has no bathing tradition, so relaxing means a hotel spa with a skyline pool, foot reflexology or Chinese medicine in Chinatown, or Ayurvedic treatments in Little India. Its calmest moments come early in the morning in the Botanic Gardens or on the shaded reservoir paths.