By all relevant metrics (population / GDP / etc), Tokyo is the largest “city” in the world. I say “city”, because Tokyo is technically not actually a city, but rather a metropolis, which is a collection of 23 city-like (meaning they have their own partial governments, public services, etc) entities – regardless – it’s huge. What I found interesting, however, is that Tokyo didn’t *feel* huge. It felt expansive, and in many instances very populated, but not just busting at the seams the way Mumbai, Jakarta, and other large cities feel. Some of this has to do with the infrastructure, and some of it has to do with the culture.
All that said, if you follow along with my adventures on Facebook, you saw some of the pictures I got of all the calamity of the big city. Hordes of people are a fact of life no matter the big city, and parts of Tokyo… perhaps a lot of Tokyo… doesn’t escape that. I wanted to share this particular picture of Tokyo though, because it more appropriately captures my time in Tokyo.
This week’s Picture of the Week is from the Odaiba Seaside Park (Odaiba Kaihin-Koen), which is a really nice park next to a really long inlet that connects to Tokyo Bay. The park features a small replica of the Statue of Liberty, and has awesome views of Tokyo’s skyline and specifically the Rainbow Bridge (which was not lit up like a rainbow while I was there). While wandering around I found this peer that I found to be a nice focal point, with the city in the background.
Till next week!
–Dan Thompson