Somewhere.. across the sea.... of Japan!

... and that was Tokyo! I'm fresh back from a 6 day schlomp to (depending on which list you look at), the most populous city in the world. My word it was nice to be back in civilization! The streets were clean (eerily clean actually), the public transit civilized and the prices fixed (so there was no need to put the bargaining skills I've learned to the test). Yes, it was a glorious 6 days spent shivering in the cold, cloudy Japanese metropolis that 20 years ago we thought was about to rule the world. I [heart] Tokyo.

Getting off the plane there were some things that were instantly evident.

1) It was clean. Like, you could eat off the dirt in the city parks clean. I spent my time wondering if all western countries were this clean, or that simply being anywhere outside of China resulted in such a shock to the system that everything LOOKED super clean. I've confided with others and have come to the conclusion that Japan may be the cleanest country I've ever heard of. In the Starbucks (which I frequented... they don't serve Chi Tea Lattes in China, but they do in Japan!), after you finish your drink they ask you to put your plastic lid in one receptacle and the paper cup in another so that they can recycle both. It's best to utilize this waste bin too, because there aren't any on the streets. Seriously, I walked for kilometers on end at times and never came across a single public bin. Yet the city is immaculately clean...

2) The Japanese love bathrooms. Never have I felt as spoiled for clean, free, public bathrooms in my life. They were everywhere; in the subway stations, in the malls, on the side of the road, anywhere! The thought merely had to cross your mind before you could see your urinary salvation. And what bathrooms they were!!! The Japanese have taken the toilet and turned it into an art form. From the moment I stood dumbfounded at the airport bathroom door, I knew they were special there. The seats are not only heated (oh so nice after walking in the brisk, wet, autumn air), but you have the option for water-spray cleaning and air-burst drying (which was too much for me to handle and I quickly stopped my one experiment with the contraption). The attention to detail on these machines, and no where else would I label toilets a machine, clearly demonstrated in what high regard the Japanese hold 'going'.

3) People cared about how they looked; fashion matters. Even in Shanghai, the 'fashionable city' of China, people don't look so good. 90%+ of the men are wearing business suits. It's remarkable, because after a while I began to look closer at these men, the samurai of the 21st century, realizing that although they didn't all have good fashion know how, their shoes wouldn't match their pants, and their tie had no business with the shirt they were wearing, because they were in a suit - they still looked good. This may explain why in my two days back in Shanghai I've worn a suit to the office by choice each day... The women meanwhile utilize all the shopping venues the city has at their disposal, which is many. Everyone looks stylish. I was wearing jeans and a grey top and felt very, very under dressed walking down the street in many parts of town. It's something I feel every city might consider aspiring to... good looking citizens.

4) The food is good. Japanese food is really, really good. Between the sushi, ramen noodles, tepanakki and squid balls (which are delicious, trust me), Japan is an eaters paradise. True you can't get a meal for less than 6 bucks, which when your a poor traveler coming from China is a lot of money, but that doesn't diminish the quality. I raise my chi latte (my drink of choice in Japan) to your cooking, Iron Chef.

Without question there is nowhere like Tokyo. It doesn't feel fair to compare it to my current home, Shanghai, in a face off of eastern cultures, because Tokyo wins so easily, its like if the Brazilian National Soccer team squared off against the Greater Boston All Scholastic team. Tokyo is great in so many places and so many ways, but in the end I found one word sums up the city better than any other: Livable.