[steven]

Do you know any Japanese? I think you would learn the most about Tokyo by talking to some Japaense about their day to day lives. I also think that unless you've been there it's hard to understand just how massive it is. I'd check out maps of the train/subway systems and look at google maps' street views where they are available just to get an idea of what you're dealing with.

Tokyo seems like the holy land for most foreigners but I can't really stand it for more than a quick vacation... even still, I'd rather go somewhere else. It's too crowded; the amount of people is just too overwhelming.

With that being said, if you're talking about some kind of chance meeting in a city of that size, it's kind of interesting. I've never really bought stuff like that, but two weeks ago I was in Nagoya Station (which is also one of those mega-ly crowded places) and I met a friend there by chance.

Not to reiterate too much, but I think that writing about a place that you are thouroughly familiar with is quite a task, let alone a place that you know nothing about. I think that by looking at the massiveness of tokyo you might reconsider things.

Try looking at it this way: some Japanese person decides to write a book about an American in Los Angeles even though she doesn't speak English and has never been there before (or America for that matter). The person then goes on and describes places where crimes often happen and goes into detail about other things like day-to-day lives of regular people and the places they like to hang out at.

Seems like a far fetched idea... but I don't want to be a complete naysayer. I don't know if you want it, but my advice is to learn about it by experiencing it or talking to a ton of people who are experiencing it. Right now it's like you're trying to build a 10,000 piece jig-saw puzzle without more than just a few of the pieces. That will lead to an incomplete work or something filled with fantasy... that's what Tsuwabuki was talking about if I understood correctly. You have to create an atmosphere filled with Japanese (or Tokyoan) idiosyncrasies. However, you have to present it in a way that will be condusive to the idea that you are writing for an English speaking audience.