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It is certainly more liveable than anything other Asian countries have to offer.
Aside from other Japanese cities, Taipei is great. My biggest gripe is air quality, but that's partially geography (oh and housing prices). I reckon there must be some others, perhaps in South Korea?
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 06-15-2018 at 08:28 AM..
Tokyo is a great place to explore by foot. There are small shrines and temples everywhere as well as odd shops and retail districts. I think part of what makes Tokyo so very distinctive is how pedestrianized the whole thing is and how that goes on for such a wide expanse and across so many distinctive neighborhoods.
I think another factor is just how polite everyone else and how well put-together and how smoothly things run there.
In my experience, the food is a lot better in Tokyo overall than either NYC or Shanghai. Random produce you buy or small restaurants you walk into generally have better odds of being good than its counterparts in NYC or Shanghai.
I think that's what makes Tokyo so appealing and why it is my 2nd favourite city in the world after London. People expect big cities to be a chaotic, traffic-ridden, dirty, super-expensive mess. But Tokyo is none of that. For a city it's size, it is very pedestrian-friendly and walkable. It's more walkable than American cities of 1 million people. As I've posted before, most of Tokyo's streets are shared where pedestrians and cars intermingle. And it's super clean -- no litter anywhere. And despite what people think, it's not expensive at all.
Different video:
Last edited by ilovelondon; 06-15-2018 at 12:27 PM..
Tokyo is a great place to explore by foot. There are small shrines and temples everywhere as well as odd shops and retail districts. I think part of what makes Tokyo so very distinctive is how pedestrianized the whole thing is and how that goes on for such a wide expanse and across so many distinctive neighborhoods.
I think another factor is just how polite everyone else and how well put-together and how smoothly things run there.
In my experience, the food is a lot better in Tokyo overall than either NYC or Shanghai. Random produce you buy or small restaurants you walk into generally have better odds of being good than its counterparts in NYC or Shanghai.
Tokyo or Japan in general is clean, well organized and so on. It is a great place, but not as "exotically impressive" any many people suggest.
As for food, I think different people have different tastes. I do not eat raw fish/meat, so a lot of authentic Japanese items are ruled out.
I get really active into the nightlife of Japan and find it absolutely extraordinary in that regard. I do like Tokyo better than NYC, though NYC bars are better. I think though you have to really be looking for it and know a little or a bit of Japanese. People often ask how I find things in Tokyo, even people that live there. Found the used lingerine gatcha machine before my friend whom lives there had any idea where it was! Great city to go all out in, can't really do that in NYC anymore. I also like the harsh stance against drugs. Raves in Tokyo are really about the music from Trance to Speedcore. In America, it's kinda just meh. I still go for the music, but I find the
But Japan's work culture, low pay, and the like kill the thought of working there. I can see retiring to or near Tokyo though. I know my friends in Saitama would love that.
Tokyo or Japan in general is clean, well organized and so on. It is a great place, but not as "exotically impressive" any many people suggest.
As for food, I think different people have different tastes. I do not eat raw fish/meat, so a lot of authentic Japanese items are ruled out.
I suppose exotically impressive can mean a lot of things. There's definitely a lot of interesting subcultures there.
People do have different tastes, and Tokyo, though not as much the rest of Japan, caters to that. There is a massive variety of different foods available in Tokyo and much of it very well done. I'm talking about ridiculously good nouvelle cuisine restaurants, kebabs, and all manners of different things. I think the only thing that has a stronger tendency to deviate in terms of authenticity is for hot spicy foods. Not spicy foods in terms of the use of many spices, but spicy as in derived from chili peppers. On that front, the "hot" level generally deviates in terms of being toned down except for a few places (and also novelty restaurants where they go well overboard).
Also, there is a lot of Japanese cuisine, the vast majority of items really, that are not raw fish or meat. That's like in the US where I've met people who think all Chinese cuisine is necessarily just a ton of oil and soy sauce. It's a pretty silly statement.
I get really active into the nightlife of Japan and find it absolutely extraordinary in that regard. I do like Tokyo better than NYC, though NYC bars are better. I think though you have to really be looking for it and know a little or a bit of Japanese. People often ask how I find things in Tokyo, even people that live there. Found the used lingerine gatcha machine before my friend whom lives there had any idea where it was! Great city to go all out in, can't really do that in NYC anymore. I also like the harsh stance against drugs. Raves in Tokyo are really about the music from Trance to Speedcore. In America, it's kinda just meh. I still go for the music, but I find the
But Japan's work culture, low pay, and the like kill the thought of working there. I can see retiring to or near Tokyo though. I know my friends in Saitama would love that.
That or get hired at a non-Japanese company. Those usually get pretty good pay and the work pressure to stay late doesn't hold when everyone just thinks that's their habit.
I have heard that the work culture is a lot better than before though.
I suppose exotically impressive can mean a lot of things. There's definitely a lot of interesting subcultures there.
People do have different tastes, and Tokyo, though not as much the rest of Japan, caters to that. There is a massive variety of different foods available in Tokyo and much of it very well done. I'm talking about ridiculously good nouvelle cuisine restaurants, kebabs, and all manners of different things. I think the only thing that has a stronger tendency to deviate in terms of authenticity is for hot spicy foods. Not spicy foods in terms of the use of many spices, but spicy as in derived from chili peppers. On that front, the "hot" level generally deviates in terms of being toned down except for a few places (and also novelty restaurants where they go well overboard).
Also, there is a lot of Japanese cuisine, the vast majority of items really, that are not raw fish or meat. That's like in the US where I've met people who think all Chinese cuisine is necessarily just a ton of oil and soy sauce. It's a pretty silly statement.
Big cities like Tokyo certainly have all kinds of restaurants. I was talking about authentic foods relatively rare or very different in other countries. Raw fish/meat is a good example of that.
Personally I am not a fan of (traditional) Japanese cuisine. Many things are too sweet for me with teriyaki-like sauce, others are too salty (the ramen noodle soups and miso soup in Japan are generally extremely salty). But right, I may be biased because I like spicy food. If I choose to go to Asian restaurants in the US, normally I choose either Sichuan, Thai or Indian. (Even Americanized Thai food is too sweet for me.) In fact I almost never go to Japanese restaurants by myself.
However, I have not tried any high-end places in Tokyo, just small restaurants.
I get really active into the nightlife of Japan and find it absolutely extraordinary in that regard. I do like Tokyo better than NYC, though NYC bars are better. I think though you have to really be looking for it and know a little or a bit of Japanese. People often ask how I find things in Tokyo, even people that live there. Found the used lingerine gatcha machine before my friend whom lives there had any idea where it was! Great city to go all out in, can't really do that in NYC anymore. I also like the harsh stance against drugs. Raves in Tokyo are really about the music from Trance to Speedcore. In America, it's kinda just meh. I still go for the music, but I find the
But Japan's work culture, low pay, and the like kill the thought of working there. I can see retiring to or near Tokyo though. I know my friends in Saitama would love that.
Japanese companies usually do not fire people, and employees usually do not switch employers.
On the one hand, there is no way to 'start over again"; and on the other hand, you are protected by a safety net. The hierarchy is obvious and you are expect to follow it.
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