Well, I lived in Tokyo. This link (http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111597561292716184963.0004389b1bf5f7a4f4f7a&ll=35.715925,139.789653&spn=0.012335,0.020342&t=h&z=16) shows where. It's kind of hard to explain what's like. If you've been to a big city (New York City, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, and to lesser extent San Francisco, Boston, Paris, Singapore, Amsterdam... - there are certainly others that qualify but not that I've been to) then you have a beginning sense. However, much like all of these cities, Tokyo has it's own flavors. Where I lived was very old fashioned - mostly two story family houses (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389551856/in/set-72157602041321989/) with thin walls, and you can hear what's going on in the streets - which isn't much, because of the way Tokyo is laid out, people rarely drive on the side streets, which have no side walks and are very narrow. Most of the noise I got was people talking or working (I was across from a carpenter) outside.
Unlike a city like New York or Chicago which is built around one central "metropolis" area - ie, the Loop in Chicago, midtown and downtown Manhattan - Tokyo, which is much larger population wise and as a result physically than either of these places, has multiple city centers. The primary ones that I visited are at Shinjuku (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1307699212/) (which has one of the largest and most active train stations in the world, 2 million+ passengers per day), Shibuya (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389670608/") (many of the shots in Lost in Translation are shot at Shibuya), Ueno (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389542534/), Roppongi (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1436799407/) (which is the only one on this list not on the Yamanote JR Train Line), and Ikebukuro (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389561230/).
Tokyo is active in a way that only a big city can be. The side streets are quiet, the main streets are often quite crowded, and the tourist areas - of which there are many - are great places to hear many different languages. It's a relatively open city, though, and used to foreigners. From what I hear, in at least some other parts of the country racism is a bigger problem - as it was, I had to deal with only a little. Speaking a bit of Japanese helps a lot - and reading some Japanese, even if it's just hiragana and katakana, is exceptionally helpful. While in tourist areas you can often get menus in English, many places don't have them, and if you can't read そば (soba) as opposed to らめん (ramen), you don't know what kind of noodles you're getting - and you don't get anything like an authentic experience with out that kind of thing.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-01-03 05:16 am (UTC)Unlike a city like New York or Chicago which is built around one central "metropolis" area - ie, the Loop in Chicago, midtown and downtown Manhattan - Tokyo, which is much larger population wise and as a result physically than either of these places, has multiple city centers. The primary ones that I visited are at Shinjuku (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1307699212/) (which has one of the largest and most active train stations in the world, 2 million+ passengers per day), Shibuya (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389670608/") (many of the shots in Lost in Translation are shot at Shibuya), Ueno (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389542534/), Roppongi (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1436799407/) (which is the only one on this list not on the Yamanote JR Train Line), and Ikebukuro (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/1389561230/).
Tokyo is active in a way that only a big city can be. The side streets are quiet, the main streets are often quite crowded, and the tourist areas - of which there are many - are great places to hear many different languages. It's a relatively open city, though, and used to foreigners. From what I hear, in at least some other parts of the country racism is a bigger problem - as it was, I had to deal with only a little. Speaking a bit of Japanese helps a lot - and reading some Japanese, even if it's just hiragana and katakana, is exceptionally helpful. While in tourist areas you can often get menus in English, many places don't have them, and if you can't read そば (soba) as opposed to らめん (ramen), you don't know what kind of noodles you're getting - and you don't get anything like an authentic experience with out that kind of thing.