God I miss Tokyo so much

[godwine]

Originally Posted by Kayci

I keep hearing from friends who visit there saying how clean Nagoya is....xD

My hometown disgusts me, and being in Japan was a relief. I got on another American kid's case last weekend when he willingly threw trash on the ground in a very clean park too. (Gahhhhh)

I feel healthier here too, but maybe its me being silly.

I guess there is a reason why Nagoya gives people an impression of classiness... really, this is the impression I have on different cities:

- Kyoto - Old traditional
- Nagoya - Classy
- Osaka - Friendly and party town
- Tokyo - Serious and business tone
- Hakata - Hardworking blue collar town
- Kobe - A mix of everything

Maybe its just me....

[Lonthego]

Originally Posted by Kayci

I feel healthier here too, but maybe its me being silly.

Yeah I feel the same..it's so much easier for me to be healthier in Japan than back in the US..in the majority of communities you can walk everywhere, because of how convenient the transportation is..and I think people underestimate how big of a difference even just an hour of walking a day can make on their health.
Also, smaller food portions are nice, people say you can just not eat half your food if portion size bothers you, but it doesn't seem that tactic fares too well for 2/3 of people where I come from..and the quality is better anyways.
Always very fresh vegetables and fruits in the supermarket..and just in general being in a culture that discourages unhealthy eating (though that's changing slowly) I think also has an effect on people.
If I had a complaint healthwise, it would be about Japanese gyms. Unless you pay a semi-ridiculous amount you can only go during certain times of the day, and sometimes not on holidays etc. US gyms are cheaper with better equipment and no restrictions most of the time.

It doesn't seem Sapporo has been mentioned yet, I lived there for a year and it's very beautiful..great food, big open spaces, lots of nature, not a lot of historical sights because it was only colonized in the 19th century or so, but still..extremely cold in the winter but you can go to the yuki matsuri, snow festival. Good for a visit but I'm not sure I'd like to live there again, it's kind of isolated from the rest of Japan. When I was living near Tokyo (in Yokohama, also a great city) I could jump on a bullet train and be in Kyoto in around 2 hours..can't do that when you live in Hokkaido

PS never has a country been so clean WITHOUT HAVING ANY DAMN TRASHCANS ANYWHERE
but of course you can't have your cake and eat it too..nyuk nyuk

[JohnBraden]

I miss the traffic light jingles or bird chirps.... and the eki-melo, as mentioned before.... amongst MANY things I miss from Japan.....

[DragonNL]

Everything I miss about Tokyo has already been named.

Originally Posted by Lonthego

PS never has a country been so clean WITHOUT HAVING ANY DAMN TRASHCANS ANYWHERE

Haha yeah It's crazy. So many stores. Vending machines at every corner on the streets, no trashcans anywhere, and yet so clean.
It's a bit irritating though, when you want to get rid of something but you have to wait till you get back at your hotelroom or a restaurant or whatever..

[dfida]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I can't really comment on how clean (or not) places in Japan are when compared to places in other countries... I've lived here exclusively for far too long. I don't even remember the state of cleanliness when I lived in the US.

But compared to places I have been in Japan - quite a few - Osaka takes the cake when it comes to griminess. Not saying that the city is a bad place, of course. I would live there over Tokyo if I had to choose between the two... But by my standards, it is a really grimy place.

Nagoya is just really clean, which I suppose doesn't really help my feelings about it either.

The city where i live now (in the US) is MUCH cleaner than Tokyo. Not a blade of grass out of place, not a scrap of paper in the street, not a powerline in sight, and god forbid if there was grafitti - the local police would go nuts.

But, cleanliness isn't everything.

[DragonNL]

God I even miss the cicada's!
(They don't exist in Holland)

[Lonthego]

Originally Posted by MissMisa

Everyone told me Japan's portion sizes were a lot smaller, but they just weren't to me, there were the same. I couldn't ever finish a big plate of カレーライス either. XD

And yeah, where are the bins?!

Hmm maybe size portions in the UK are not yet what they have become in the US..monstrous!
Ramen and curry rice do usually have pretty big portions though, or at least cheap options to make them big (ie 大盛り)..they're so good..japanese comfort food mmmm

[japan1234567]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Add me to the number that doesn`t miss Tokyo. It`s too frustrating, sprawling, dirty, cramped, and crowded...
I love city life, but once you go past a certain point there is nothing but negatives. I can`t see any reason - other than employment related - that someone would choose to suffer the negatives of Tokyo... If it were the only city in Japan, I could understand. But I can get all the advantages of a Japanese big city, for cheaper at that, elsewhere.

It may just be me, but every time I go to Tokyo I seriously can`t wait to leave.

Tokyo is not at all negative. This city has the ability to manage lot of challenging tasks much better than other big cities in the world. I was really surprised how clean this city is!

Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Ueno, Ikebukuro, Asakusa, Akihibara, Harajuku, Roppongi and so on are kind of Tokyo districts which are different from each others! I assume maybe Asakusa or Ueno are less clean than Ginza but comparing to other world big cities the mentioned districts are still very clean.

Tokyo offer great advantages for example in various restaurant specialities, shopping etc. and has a sophisticated infrastructure. But of course it depends on each one and above all on the budget! For example somebody who is spending lot of time in the Roppongi bars and clubs would of course spend lot of money! lol...

Fact is in Tokyo you have lot of choice.

Vancouver is for example a clean big city too and I'd say there are many clean cities in Canada. But that's my opinion.

The organization is everything and Tokyo is a well organized city!

[spicytuna]

I miss walking around in Kabuki-cho, happy hour at TGIF Fridays in Roppongi, waiting around for friends in front of Hachiko in Shibuya, etc.

Although I'm tempted to move there, I've come to realize that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I'm happy living in my mountain resort town for now.

But once/if I get my package from work, I'm on the first plane there!

[OHayou]

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery

I don't get the city life bashing. I mean, maybe if you're older and want to settle down and raise your children, a city might not be that great. But when you're young and you want the latest in art, fashion, music, entertainment, food, and everything else, you can't get that level anywhere else. It might be dirty, cramped, and crowded, but it's lively.

It's funny because I live in a small island resort town and I can't understand why people would live in a city. I'm not bashing the city life mind you (a lot of my friends live in big cities like New York and they think us country people are "boring" or "slow in the head" heh) but I'm on the other side of the fence. To me people in cities are generally a lot ruder, there really is no nature, and the cost of living is nuts! I guess I love the island life (and yes I *Do* live in ohio lol.) I'm not posting this to say "us island people are better" because although we are...heh...i'm sure you would go nuts living here since we definitly are not the epicenter of fashion or art or lively @ 3am (though music and entertainment we *are* pretty awesome but in the winter it sucks because the island is shut down, half the people here live in Florida/Arizona during the winter, and ..it's in Ohio.)

Originally Posted by MissMisa

I really miss Osaka. Tokyo was awesome. I just miss being in Japan, I really want to go back. Gah. Don't get me wrong, I love England too, and I think some of it is a case of 'grass is greener' but y'know, I did love the short time I was there.

Osaka was awesome! I'm definitly agreeing with wanting to go back to Japan and I visited 5 cities but none of them Tokyo...like Nyororin said in one of her posts everything is compounded when you go to a major metropolis like Tokyo. To me, it's like when I see foreigners coming to New York for their first visit to see "America" and I think to myself...if you *really* want to see America ... why are you going to New York!? At first this might seem obvious as to why they would want too but with the crowds, the tourists, the overpriced ..everything...it seemed more of a programmed type of trip that 'everyone does so you should also'.

In reality...I suppose I just am not really a big city kinda guy lol