Evening,
I’ve lived in Japan for about 2.5 years and every time I have a long vacation I go to one of the big cities like Osaka, Kyoto, Sapporo, or Tokyo. Lately, i’ve been going to Tokyo a lot more. I’ve lived in a lot of big cities in the USA like Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco so I like big cities. They have awful parts to them like high rent and grumpy people, but I never get tired of these cities even after living in them for a while. And these places are filthy, *filthy*, compared to any city in Japan, even the worst parts of Tokyo after a big party.
I feel like there’s always something to do in Tokyo, always new people to meet, always something you haven’t done before and, IF YOU GOT THE MONEY TO DO IT, you can do it.
Before I came to Japan I remember watching videos about how shit Tokyo was, and how people want to leave Tokyo, and how it’s so crowded and how people are rude and stuff. But I feel like I’ve experienced none of these extremely negative aspects of Tokyo. My worst nights in Tokyo are not that bad, not as bad as being out here in the countryside sometimes.
So I gotta ask if this place is truly overrated, because every time I come to Tokyo I am basically expecting to hate it and I just don’t. Maybe I haven’t lived “in the city” long enough to dislike it? What are the bad things about this city that you can open my eyes to?
9 comments
If you don’t mind it being crowded (and everything that comes with that), and have the money to afford it I think Tokyo is a great place to live.
I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love big cities, don’t find it crowded at all, and have a good enough salary to live somewhere decent inside the special wards. It’s safe, it’s clean, it’s convenient (all relatively speaking of course), and there’s always something to do—or some place to go to NOT do anything.
I don’t think it’s overrated; I think it bills itself precisely as it is.
One thing I don’t like about Tokyo is how high the rent is, at least in the 23 ku. One of my friend pays like 40 man for a 50m2 apartment. Granted his building is really nice, and close to a big station, but still.
I don’t see any downside to the 23 wards other than it is too expensive (for my brokeass) and small. Although I think if you go west towards like Kokubunji, there are nice suburban areas with not too high COL and you can get to Tokyo in somewhat good time. But there are always interesting places to eat at, interesting new cafes to try and my favorite place Akihabara is always there.
I have lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles for a good part of my life and I never really enjoyed those places as much as Tokyo. It’s not so much because it is a city environment, but for both of those, the public transportation just sucks. If you do drive in SF or LA it is constant stop and go traffic and you have to pay for really expensive parking. In the Center of Tokyo, I don’t think you can be more than half a km from any subway or train station which makes getting around easy, even if the train is crowded.
It’s not as culturally vibrant as people seem to expect. Most of its like unremarkable suburbs. Which makes it liveable. A lot of it is quiet, people work, go home, sleep. But it’s not that exciting. Especially if you can’t afford to do anything. The pizaaz is restricted to a few key areas.
Don’t you mean overhated?
Yeah, I agree with you. I’ve always heard people talking about how Tokyo is trash and how grumpy people are there, while everyone else in Japan is supposed to have amazing people with superb quality of life in a very relaxed lifestyle. Bullshit.
First, the “crowded” argument doesn’t make any sense at all. Tokyo is not crowded if you get away from the center, there are very beautiful, green and relaxed areas in the prefecture. The center of Osaka is also crowded, so is the center of cities like Sapporo (where I’m currently living in). The trains in Osaka and Sapporo are also packed if you decide to go there in the rush hour, so yeah, every major city can be crowded if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. I lived in Tokyo as a student and never got worried about it being crowded, but life might be very different as a regular office worker.
The “grumpy people” argument has also been bs for me. Almost everyone I’ve met in Tokyo, regardless of it being at University, バ先 or even random places (there was an specific day I managed to be friends with a dude I met in a bus stop lol) was great. In Sapporo, I place I’ve already seen mentioned as somewhere with lots of “nice people”, however, I’ve only met absolute assholes so far, both at universities, baitos and on random places like convenience stores, supermarkets and so on lol.
Not to mention the fact that Tokyo is super convenient, you can get anywhere without worrying about having a car, which is not true in some other cities like Sapporo and Kyoto. Tokyo is also not a concrete jungle like many people pretend it is.
But like I said, I’ve experienced those cities as a student, not as a shakaijin, and I believe that the main reason Tokyo is so overhated is because of how stressful the commute might be for regular office workers. If I were working remotely and could choose anywhere in Japan to live, I’d have no issues with living in Tokyo.
Meh, Tokyo is ok to visit, but like hell would I live there. I prefer Yokohama through and through.
Most big cities tend to be painted that way. There’s always pros and cons like you mentioned, which shapes individual perspectives I guess. I love New York because of its vibrant and plethora of restaurants. Not to mention it’s great night life, but its grumpy busy people, dirty streets and rat infested subway kinda make it insufferable. I was born and raised a city boy and tend to love my inaka experiences. I actually prefer living in inaka, every time I visit the in-laws I’m like a kid at Christmas. My wife’s the opposite, she prefers being in Tokyo and was raised inaka before moving here decades ago. She hates the inconvenience of having to drive 20 minutes away to do grocery shopping at the only location close to my in-laws house, whereas in Tokyo she’s spoiled for choice on where to shop. Individual perspectives matter in this case.
Tokyo is great if you have money. I don’t like the inaka or rural areas for living as they’re too inconvenient and lack variety, so Tokyo suits me best.