Tokyo
was a bit overwhelming, especially after more than a week of hard core
traveling. The city makes New York
look both bucolic and inexpensive. The
city is the home, within a 22 mile radius of the center, to 30 million
people (the population of
California
and almost 2x the population of the New York
metro area).
Tokyo, which used to be known as
Edo, became the capital of Japan
in 1868, when it was moved from Kyoto
(in Japanese, Kyoto
means “Western capital” and Tokyo
means “Eastern capital”). But
by then, the city already had 2 million people in it.
We found Tokyo
to be a bit more of a city by night than a city by day.
While we’re sure than the 30 million people must do things
during the day and must enjoy some cultural activities, we were either
too tired or unwilling to seek them out by the time we got there.
The city was much more
of an international city than the rest of Japan
and Beijing, though. Many more people
spoke English, and there was a large array of non-Japanese food to eat,
including a delightful Mexican restaurant, with a Sri Lankan chef,
Brazilian bartender, and Filipino wait staff.