Introducing Tokyo
Tokyoites inhabit a singular capital inimitably yoking past and future, where Zen temples nestle in sci-fi cityscapes and centuries-old madness for cherry blossoms coexists with an insatiable desire for nonstop novelty.
Old and new are forever juxtaposed in Tokyo: its residents are at home both donning loincloths to shoulder a portable Shinto shrine through Asakusa’s religious festivals and piloting humanoid fighting machines in Akihabara’s robot sport tournaments. Tradition, happily, is not ossified, but feted along with innovation.
The workaholic stereotype is very true – death from overwork is legally recognised in Japan – but stroll through a neon-lined row of Shinjuku yakitori joints on the weekend, or any cherry grove in spring, and you’ll see that people take pleasure very seriously here. There is ever-flowing sake, deep respect for freshly filleted fish and heartfelt karaoke, and constant curiosity about how outsiders view this archipelago at the end of the world.
Orderly, efficient Tokyo works stunningly well for a metropolis its size, yet it has about as many masks as there are hostess clubs in Kabukichō. Peeling back each façade reveals a city that’s far less Western than first impressions suggest; nearly everything Tokyoites do, from taking out the trash to cheering a ball game, is profoundly un-Western. Their reverence for ritual, courtesy and the power to ganbaru (persevere) gives this super-dense megalopolis a calm at the heart of the storm. This is wa – social harmony – and it’s the force that makes Tokyo more a series of one-of-a-kind experiences than a collection of sights.
Last updated: Oct 2, 2008
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