Osaka is Japan's third largest city, and it is the heart of the country's largest metropolitan region, which consists of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto, and has a population of around 20 million people.

Osaka, then known as Naniwa, was twice the imperial capital of Japan, in the seventh and eighth centuries, but only for short periods, and the city has throughout its history been more famous for its economic than its political power.

Osaka was historically Japan's commercial capital, and it is still a powerful business center with a large working population. In fact, the city's population increases with more than a million, from 2.6 to 3.7 million during the day thanks to the vast number of commuters working in the city.

Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, Osaka has excellent sea, air, and land communications and remains the economic powerhouse of the Kansai region.

While Osaka's history goes back well over 1,000 years, the city is today better known for its future-oriented cityscape, architecture, and industry than for its past. A distinctly modern city with a skyscraper-studded skyline and vast underground shopping complexes, Osaka is bustling, commercial, creative, energetic, versatile, and friendly.

The city has two main centers: Kita to the north, which is the main business and retail district; and Minima to the south, which includes the main shopping, food, and entertainment areas.

Osaka is just as busy after dark as during the daytime. The city's nightlife is legendary, with thousands of bars, restaurants, and amusement venues. The most famous of the night spots is the Dotonbori area, a hectic neon jungle along the Dotonbori canal lined with food, drink, and entertainment establishments and a giant moving crab billboard at its heart—a symbol of both the area and the city.

Osaka is regarded as the country's gourmet food capital, the culinary heart (or indeed belly) of Japan. It is the place to go whether you want top-notch kaiseki food or more hearty and generous fare like okonomiyaki, the local specialty.

Another local favorite is takoyaki, flavorsome dumplings made of batter and diced octopus. The motto that sums up Osaka and the mentality of its people more than any other is “kuidaore,” which quite simply means “eat until you drop.”

Montreal is unique in North America, blending a brash New World urbanity with the romantic charm of its European-flavored historic districts and a Gallic sense of joie de vivre evident in the city's many pavement cafés and dynamic nightlife.

Although its downtown skyscrapers are a testament to the economic clout of Canada's second largest city, visitors are more likely to be drawn by the promise of a horse-drawn calèche ride along the cobbled streets of Old Montreal or a stroll up Mount Royal, the city's landmark.

Montreal is situated on an island, 50km by 16km (31 miles by 10 miles), between the Rivière des Prairies and the St Lawrence River. “Discovered” by Jacques Cartier in 1535, the island was already inhabited—the Iroquois village of Hochelaga stood at the foot of Mount Royal. By 1642, Hochelaga was abandoned in favor of the European settlement, Ville Marie.

A French colony until 1760, Montreal fell to the British, and today some 67% of the inhabitants claim French as a mother tongue, making Montreal the second most populous French-speaking city in the world after Paris.

The charming buildings of Old Montreal are today filled with boutiques, bars, hotels, and restaurants. From the promenade along the adjacent Old Port one sees the nearby islands of Ile Ste-Hélène and Ile Notre-Dame, site of the Expo 67 World Fair, and now comprising the city's largest park, Parc Jean-Drapeau. The world's tallest inclined tower can be visited atop the Olympic Stadium, a legacy of the 1976 Summer Olympics, and next door is the city's expansive Botanical Garden.

The “real” Montreal, though, exists in its neighborhoods like Little Italy and Chinatown and especially the multicultural Mile End and Plateau Mont-Royal. Boulevard St-Laurent (“The Main”), which bisects Montreal into east and west, is the city's liveliest street, where the shops, bars, and ethnic restaurants draw crowds until well into the night.

The best time to visit Montreal is in the summer, when even the nights can be sultry and the whole city seems to be partying, as the festival season (notably the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal) moves into high gear. The cooler autumns bring out the colors in the leaves and are a great time to visit the forested Laurentians or the rolling hills of the Eastern Townships. Even the cold and snowy winters can be enjoyable: the city authorities maintain more than 150 skating rinks in the region every winter where everyone can enjoy Montreal's winter charms.