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Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

economist.com

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Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#51

Post by ipiz0618 »

Tokyo, and most big Japan cities, are probably the only cities I could visit regularly without getting bored. Whether it's cuisine, the shops, or the people, it felt like a home away from home. It's surely super crowded in some areas, but you don't have to go there either. There are plenty of areas where you could enjoy a quiet (literally) afternoon sipping a good coffee without having to queue up. Also, it's so damn clean compared to other major cities in the world.

Just avoid the train during peak hours, and you'll enjoy every moment staying there.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#52

Post by seanmcdirmid »

makotobestgirl wrote: post #46
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do snack bars in any Japanese town/city allow foreigners? I mean, I get it, these aren’t places foreigners should be going, but their forbidden nature always raises eyebrows.

True, I could imagine snacks to be among the places where you have problems going as a foreigner. It probably just depends on the owner. I haven't been to many, so I can't really speak to that. I tried a few times and had no trouble getting in, but I was with Japanese friends. May have been a different story if I had been alone.

The ones in resort towns seem to always have “no foreigners” signs in English…I guess to avoid having any awkward denials at all. Seems perfectly legal to not serve foreigners, in any case.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#54

Post by makotobestgirl »

cameronh90 wrote: post #49
makotobestgirl wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The biggest issues are crowding and racism That's surprising to hear. I have lived in Tokyo a fair amount of time (5+ years) and only experienced true racism, e.g. being not being allowed in a place for being non-Japanese, a handful of times, and those were mostly for what would be considered nighttime establishment that are a bit shady. Not doubting your experience, just putting this here as another data point. Mo…

Maybe it's just me but racism on the level of being kicked out of places for being non-Japanese a handful of times in 5 years sounds terrible. Even once is insane. I'm white so don't have any personal experience, but my partner is a brown immigrant to the UK and has experienced nothing even remotely close to that anywhere she's been in UK or Europe.

I guess that's true. It wasn't really kicked out (just edited it to clarify) but rather not being allowed in - It's probably also important to note that most of these places, except one, were what you would call nighttime establishments a bit on the shadier side. So we're not talking about restaurants or anything like that.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#55

Post by jeeeb »

kstenerud wrote: post #6
deltaonefour wrote: post #4

I thought about getting a job there as a dev. However certain things like culture, low pay, the language, and making new friends has held me back. I really loved the city when I visited a couple years back. Does anyone live in Japan as a dev and not really know how to speak japanese? How has the experience been?

I didn't speak Japanese when I first moved there. In larger cities (especially Tokyo), there are plenty of people who speak English, so it's generally not a huge problem (although you'll find things easier if you do speak the language). The biggest issues are crowding and racism. Don't expect to get into any role of importance, and don't freak out when you hear "gaijin dame" (no foreigners allowed) in some places, or…

FWIW. Learning the language (and popular culture) makes a huge difference in the people you’ll meet and how people react to you.

I worked in a Japanese company for years and made a number of good friends (of the same gender) who I’m still in contact with, and see whenever I go back.

Also the more you learn the language the more chance you’ll have of reaching a role of importance. That’s the same pretty much everywhere though. If people have trouble communicating with you or you cannot express a complex concept then you’ll be bypassed.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#56

Post by ehnto »

ehnto wrote: post #34
bedobi wrote: post #8

Having lived in Tokyo for years, the elephant in the room is "cars". The whole city is full of pleasant mixed use neighborhoods that are more or less car-free, and centered around public transport hubs that have everything you need around them. People, including unaccompanied children, can and do safely walk and ride bikes everywhere at all hours of the day, including when grocery shopping etc. The world can learn a…

You really notice it too, walking around the city feels very quiet even though there are so many people and a decent amount of noise from businesses. When you make it to a busy road, there's a notable lack of businesses nearby and you really notice the noise difference. That said, car speeds in Japanese cities are slow, and cars are heavily regulated so they're just not as loud as other cities. Cars add a sort of ten…

Replying to my own comment because I had a thought,

> Sitting in my house in the burbs I can hear the highway out the window, in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, there was a type of quiet I just wasn't expecting from a city.

I'm also wondering if it's because of the density of buildings. In the burbs, I can hear a dog barking a block away, and the highway is pretty far from me but I still hear it. In Tokyo, it can almost feel like the city is muffled, and I wonder if that's because of the intense amount of concrete, medium height buildings and narrow, sometimes winding, crosshatching streets. In the immediate space you'd expect some reflection, but there's no way you'd hear something a block away.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#57

Post by makotobestgirl »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #52
makotobestgirl wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, I could imagine snacks to be among the places where you have problems going as a foreigner. It probably just depends on the owner. I haven't been to many, so I can't really speak to that. I tried a few times and had no trouble getting in, but I was with Japanese friends. May have been a different story if I had been alone.

The ones in resort towns seem to always have “no foreigners” signs in English…I guess to avoid having any awkward denials at all. Seems perfectly legal to not serve foreigners, in any case.

I haven't really seen many of those signs in Tokyo. I could imagine that in resort towns they want to keep tourists out? Having tourists who don't understand what those places is asking for trouble I guess.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#58

Post by lmm »

deltaonefour wrote: post #4

I thought about getting a job there as a dev. However certain things like culture, low pay, the language, and making new friends has held me back. I really loved the city when I visited a couple years back. Does anyone live in Japan as a dev and not really know how to speak japanese? How has the experience been?

I've lived here for two years and my Japanese is still not great, though getting better all the time.

Both the highs and the lows have been bigger than I expected. I've loved the place on the whole but there have definitely been significant downsides too. If you don't like the culture I'd be very cautious about coming here.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#59

Post by seanmcdirmid »

makotobestgirl wrote: post #57
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ones in resort towns seem to always have “no foreigners” signs in English…I guess to avoid having any awkward denials at all. Seems perfectly legal to not serve foreigners, in any case.

I haven't really seen many of those signs in Tokyo. I could imagine that in resort towns they want to keep tourists out? Having tourists who don't understand what those places is asking for trouble I guess.

I’m sure the snack bars cater to Japanese tourists, these are resort towns and the snack bars line the main tourist streets. But the fact that they also attract a few foreign tourists (because we also enjoy onsens) they need the signs.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#60

Post by bedobi »

null_object wrote: post #47
bedobi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in Stockholm and it too sadly is very, very car centric compared to Tokyo. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Paris and others are much better... I wish all cities everywhere was more like them! (and Tokyo)

> I grew up in Stockholm and it too sadly is very, very car centric compared to Tokyo. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Paris and others are much better... I’m really glad to see this because I moved from central London to central Stockholm 20 years ago and no one believes me when I tell them I find this town more car-centric even than London. Away from the tourist areas, everything in Stockholm is arranged around t…

Add it to the long list of popular misconceptions about Sweden in general, most of which are held by the Swedes themselves, lol.
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