Looking for Gaijin Perpective on Tokyo

Hi, our travel group just came back from an 8 day trip to Tokyo, all of us are Germans. All of us were blown away by Tokyo, in particular: People are so friendly and helpful and considerate, the city is so clean compared to Germany, no safety issues whatsoever, public transport is simply amazing (and we used it during rush hour more than once), etc. So in short...we became fans.

However, obviously we were just tourists. So I am looking for a gaijin perpective on Tokyo. If you are not Japanese, but live over there to work, please let me know what you think about the city. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
CN

I think Tokyo has the world's most disciplined and orderly people. At the same time, they are friendly, fun-loving and tolerant. For me personally, that is a perfect combination. But because it is such a huge city, there is a high degree of alienation. People can feel unfriendly at least on the surface (and compared to other parts of the country). Also, it is crowded, living costs are high (compared to other parts of Japan), and it takes some effort (time or money) to get out of the city into nature. And summers are extremely hot/humid.

Most of all, a gaijin's happiness will depend on whether he/she has a nice job (in a social and financial meaning) and is able to make friends (that can be very easy to very difficult depending on character, attitude and efforts). If a gaijin fails or is uninterested to mingle with the locals, Tokyo also offers a relatively large expat community.

Japanese language ability can make a lot of things a lot easier. But depening on job and budget, it is not required.

Personally, I live outside of Tokyo because I don't like living in a huge city and prefer to be closer to nature.

Compared to other cities of similar size, I would agree that overall it's much cleaner.

The public transport is convenient but the crowds can be annoying, especially when you travel to other areas where you can almost always get a seat without having to fight for it. It can especially get old for commuters.

There are people from all over Japan in Tokyo. If you ask, quite a lot of residents are from other places. Many people are traveling, too. These can keep things fun, interesting, and fresh.

It's funny outsiders say Tokyoites are helpful and polite. Like many big cities, the reputation in Japan is that Tokyoites are cold and unfriendly. Tokyo people do tend to walk with more purpose than other Japanese. That can be unfriendly but for me is quite nice. It is too common elsewhere for people just to stop in the middle of busy walkways to chat or just stand stupidly blocking the way. In Tokyo, you don't have to deal with that as much. People are more aware.

I also find Tokyo to be very safe, especially as you say, in comparison to other countries. There are dangers there, though, and safety concerns, particularly for women, should never be discarded. That is when bad things happen, but basic awareness and common sense will usually be enough.

Although I do enjoy many things about cities and city life, I prefer culture, namely traditional cultural sites. While Tokyo does have gardens and a handful of temples and shrines, it's a young city by Japanese standards, so it doesn't have the kind of cultural sites you'll find in other places. Most of Tokyo's cultural treasures are in museums and were taken from other parts of the country. When I'm in Tokyo, I tend to find myself planning daytrips to places in surrounding prefectures that have more of what I like.

For me, I think Tokyo is one of those places that is overrated but understandably so. I would never want to live there. I like the West best (although I don't actually live in the West).

I live out in the "inaka", or countryside, at least according to Tokyo. I visit Tokyo about once or twice every 3 months or so, and while I really like visiting for all the reasons you posted, I joke often that my favorite part of visiting Tokyo is leaving!

Don't get me wrong, Tokyo is awesome, but in small doses. The sheer crowds of people drive me nuts after about a weekend; I could never live there! I'm content visiting for the food and occasional event, or to show visitors around. Even though I wish my area had some of the amenities that Tokyo does (like the many different foreign food restaurants), I'm glad I'm not IN Tokyo.

But then, I know a number of people living there very happily, so it's probably down to personal preference. I've lived in big cities all my life, and nevertheless find myself mostly preferring more rural than urban.

Let me put my 2 cents, A lot would depend on what sort of job/company you work for.
Even a lot of foreign companies have very Japanese way of working, this means long hours, putting work ahead of family, slow decision making, indirect communication & language barriers

I have seen a lot of people leave Japan because they could not cope up at work

What kb said basically. The radical ways of the conservative working style in Japan is the only thing that makes the country not perfect, in my opinion. Besides that, I have no other complaints. It's easy to live here.

Thanks for your answers, guys :-)

Amazing... SD actually went slightly negative on Tokyo.

Chuck, did you get out of Tokyo?

Yes, I did. :-) Ahm, do I know you? (In other words, why the question? Sorry, I am a bit confused)

I used to live in Yokohama for 3 years which is 'almost' a part of Tokyo. I've found that some people love the place and some people like it in small doses.

I'm more of the latter but I will agree that every area of Tokyo has it's own unique feel which almost makes it feel as though it's many cities rolled into one.

Tokyo is also one of the few world cities and if you look deeply enough you can find almost anything. For example - feeling like Nepali or Peruvian food? You'll probably find it. Not to mention the amount of events which comes to Tokyo. If you like bands, singers or sport your in for a treat.

In general, I enjoyed my time in Tokyo but my heart is not really in living in big cities. I blame Japan for that after discovering the Japanese countryside!