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OK so I'm new here. Hi! wave.gif

 

I'm in Tokyo and I love it. Seems quite a few people on here want to get out of Tokyo for one reason or another.

 

So here's to Tokyo and all the good things about it!

 

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So many fun things to do.

So many fun people to meet.

The culture (yes!).

The nightlife.

Never ending things to find out.

So much cool.gif

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I am no longer in T. I could put down things I like about Japan, but you just asked about Tokyo, so, things specific to Tokyo and perhaps not the rest of Japan that I really like:

 

1. Clothes shopping: Tokyo has without doubt the most amazing array of clothes shops I have ever seen. Nothing else has even come close. London has 20% of what Tokyo has on offer. What's more, clothes in Tokyo are actually quite inexpensive.

 

2. Other shopping: If you want it, you can probably buy it in Tokyo (except large sized ski/boarding boots and quality western beds at a decent price). Other than that, Tokyo sells just about everything in the world of manufactured consumer goods. Just walk into Tokyu Hands and it is quite likely they sell what you want.

 

3. An amazing train network that lets you get literally anywhere with very little fuss. It is clean, consistently reliable and easy to use. The crowds suck more than I can describe, but they are only a problems morning and evening. The greatest thing about the Tokyo subway system is that it doesn't stink like the armpits of 100's of Londoners that apparently only shower every second day. I am now very firmly on the side of the Japanese in one opinion: gaijins smell!! (although I certainly do not recall the same spicy armpit curry stench in Australia, France, Germany or America).

 

4. Live in a huge city and still make day trips to good quality snow using public transport. I can't believe that I used to be able to do that!

 

But in Tokyo I could not roam the endless undulating and wooded Heath in the drizzle then on the way home clomp my muddy boots with my dog into my local pub, buy slow cooked lamb shanks with mash and sit with by the coal fire drinking suprisingly nice warm flat beer whilst random cute-ish girls patted the hound at my foot.

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I have yet to find anything I like about Tokyo. I have nothing but unpleasant experiences when I go there.

 

The only good thing about it is that my sister sometimes comes with her orchestra and her husband, but I'm always glad to get the hell out of Tokyo and back to the sticks. I suppose the only other good thing about it is that when I'm fighting my way upstream to Shinjuku to get away, big chunks of Eliot's 'The Wasteland' float unbidden into my mind (and make me feel vastly superior to everybody else around me who probably don't know any poetry :p )

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I actually agree that Tokyo is a god awful lifeless cement ant farm where you do not live, you just exist. It is a soul destroying city that offers almost zero quality of life and is the least visually attractive places in the developed world. Tokyo really is the pits and your life must have really sucked prior to arriving if you find happiness in that place. To me it is a not from this planet freak show of a city that is fun to visit but death to live in. Mind you, this is my opinion about every man made place that I visited in Japan.

 

My opinions in my first post just outline what I liked about the place. It was not a statement that I liked the place. And you can hate it without knowing poetry.

 

[my official view is this: I would rather spend a month in Tokyo than a month in London, but any longer and London wins hands down... which really speaks poorly about Tokyo ;\) ].

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Regarding gaijin who smell, it seems to be worse in some countries than in others. I didn't think anybody smelled in Michigan, but a recent European business trip reminded me that there are differing concepts about bathing and odors.

 

What I really hate is when a really stinky J person gets on the train car, and people automatically assume it's me and start edging away... I sometimes switch train cars at the next station just to get out of this uncomfortable situation and to get away from the smell. There are some people who seem to have a serious B.O. problem. A co-worker told me these people lack an enzyme or something like that. Smells like an onion fry grill, really powerful and funky.

 

\:\)

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I miss eating lunch at T.Y. Harbor. I used to be a regular..4-5 days a week.

 

Tokyu Hands

 

Ramen - much better than the ramen available in Sendai.

 

Harajuku on a Sunday. Free entertainment.

 

 

I don't miss living in Tokyo and would never move back but for the size of city that it is it's remarkably safe.

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The special thing about Tokyo is the exclusivity and privilege. It is not for everyone and does not admit everyone.

 

But for people who appreciate quality in services and people, name a place that even comes close.

 

Big cities in Canada? lol.gif

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Yes there are big cities in Canada ;\)

And the one that I am thinking of wins hands down even though I havn't been to many really big cities.

 

Big Canadian cities are big but not on the grand scale of the huge cities like New York, Mexico City, Tokyo...

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There are many nice restaurants and bakeries.

There are many interesting events everyday and everywhere.

There are many interesting jobs and people.

Tokyo sophisticates you.

I'm very happy to have experiene of living in Tokyo. \:\)

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Good Honest Grub, and some great musicians, Nice studios

oh, okay, the train system too.

Safety walking the streets late at nite

Fresh lotus root, and other foods you can't get overseas

cheap electronics

probably more, but that's all for now

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I was a 3 year residnet of Japan but only made it to Tokyo twice. I could never, ever, never, ever live there, but I did enjoy my visits!

 

The subway train system is second to none!

 

That's all I got \:\)

 

The rest of the amenities I was searching for I could find in Morioka or Sendai or Aomori.

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Siren, I'd send my man round with an invitation, but it takes a certain je ne sais quoi to wear gardening clothes properly, and I wouldn't like the other gentlemen to feel uncomfortable... I can recommend a very nice public park.

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