Well I’ve had my first full day in Tokyo and have now had a chance to do some more observing.

The number of bicycles out here has suprised. It’s not on par with Amsterdam but their certainly do seem to be bicycles everywhere that look Dutch style with the locks, internal gear changes, baskets, mudguards and panier racks. The fact that Tokyo appears to be very flat is certainly a help with all the peddaling. [thumb:1734:r][newline]

The streets out here a wide but not full of cars like i would expect in London, Hong Kong, Singapore or or any other city. I can’t imagine coming across a traffic jam here at all. Traffic seems to be very well behaved too. The underground and train system here also appers to be sized just right with very few people standing. Admittedly I’ve not been travelling in rush hour so I don’t know what it would be like at peak times. The number of grab handles in the carriages does suggest at times that they expect lots of people. Apparently the Shinjunku station out of the window handles 2 million commuters a day out of 60 exits. I can imagine at rush hour it will look like ants streaming from a nest if viewed from above.

Tokyo also appears to be very clean and tidy like Singapore but not sterile like it with people with crazy hair and clothes wandering around in reasonable numbers.

I have been suprised to find that Tokyo is not a high rise city like Hong Kong or Singapore which is something I very much expected. Perhaps its to do with the danger of earthquakes. The area I’m staying in Shinjunku is perhaps an expception with the area of substantial bed rock here. Out of the window of the apartment I’m staying in there is a substantial cluster of skyscrapers, with one like the Gerkin under construction. [thumb:1719:l][newline]

There are certainly lots of places too eat but unlike Hong Kong there seems to be a lack of electronics shops or even compared to England the vast number of shops trying to sell mobile phones. I’m very suprised at that given the supposed love of the Japanese for their gadgets. Perhaps they may be all hidden away as it appears retail space is not just confined to lower levels of buildings. Shops appear to trade from the non-ground floors of buildings which aren’t malls with only signs in windows giving their presence away.

Overall my impression of Tokyo of the moment is that it appears to be vast and sprawlly as opposed to Singapore and Hong Kong where everything is concentrated up.