What a Typical Tokyo Neighbourhood is Like

hello world if you were to move to a typical neighborhood in tokyo what would it be like how would you get around what would you see and do today i'll take you around shinkoewa station which i recently found out is the busiest train station in katsushika ward with 154 000 daily passengers to talk about neighborhoods i feel like i have to first explain about tokyo's wards katsushika is one of tokyo's 23 awards and each ward has its own mayor it's these 23 special wards that many often think of as tokyo city although there really is no such thing there is however tokyo metropolis which has a governor and is made up of the 23 special wards plus 26 cities five towns and eight villages there are 13 million people living in tokyo metropolis and it has many different geographies so while i am trying to show you a typical neighborhood it's obviously not going to be exactly like other neighborhoods which is why i find it fun to explore different parts of tokyo and japan and for clarity going forward when i say tokyo in this video i'm talking about the 23 special awards so today i'll be showing you the area around shin koewa station the majority of what you'll see can be found in other similar sized stations around tokyo [Music] moving on let's talk about how you move around i think it's safe to say that japan and even more so tokyo is centered around train stations every time i go to meet someone or go somewhere directions always start from the train station when you go to rent or buy a home they always list the walking time to the closest train station while i'm fairly sure the majority of people get to the train station by foot there are those that get there by car if they're by bus or get there by bike bikes are in fact so popular that the bigger stations have dedicated bike parkades when going up levels there's a handy bike escalator you can use this one's quite affordable the cost is only 100 yen for the day for people who commute daily they can buy monthly passes which will get them better spots but equally as important avoid the few seconds it takes to pay the attendant for those arriving by vehicle there's usually a bus stop or bus loop plus a taxi stand [Music] for the bigger stations there could be multiple sides so if you're meeting someone at a station you might need to specify which exit you're at for simple above ground stations it may be as easy as north or south but for more complex underground stations you may have so many choices that they start numbering and lettering them something that surprised me when i first moved to tokyo is that workplaces pay commuting expenses it's expected that an employee will commute by public transportation so for many people a car can be considered a luxury as opposed to a necessity for example among my 12 family members that live in tokyo only my father-in-law owns a car which he mainly used to work at a farm in another prefecture he's now retired but still has the car to generalize if you're going to work you're probably going to take the train or bus and if you're going shopping for daily stuff you'll walk or take a bike so train stations are often the hubs of tokyo neighborhoods it's also where you'll find the largest buildings and biggest shops you can find basically anything you want here hungry you have places to eat at like restaurants cafes and izakayas which are kind of like japan's version of a pub i especially enjoy establishments that only make one thing like ramen or soba need something quickly you'll find many convenience stores they in fact serve a lot of functions from paying your bills to picking up your deliveries to buying lunch on the go a lot of people make youtube videos about the food but i'll have to do a video one day that shows the death of everything that can be accomplished at a japanese convenience store feeling bored there are many indoor entertainment facilities like karaoke or karaoke boxes and pachinko parlors or places that are healthier like fitness centers any of your daily necessities can be found near stations like grocery stores for food and drug stores for cleaning supplies toiletries and over-the-counter drugs you'll need to go to a pharmacy for your prescriptions something that i enjoy about japan are the specialty stores you can find that are usually owner operated like this place that only sells tofu this one that only sells rice or this one that only sells tea these can often be found in shotengai which can be literally translated as shopping street shotengai are groups of independent shops that have banded together to make a small shopping district shin koiwa actually has several shotengai [Music] however this covered arcade is the largest i'd talk more about shotengai but that'll require another video [Music] bigger stations will have koban which are small local police stations are for translating directly police boxes they'll usually have some bikes as in bicycles parked outside when my wife and i found a wallet on the street this is where we went to return it i can go on and on listing all the services you can access but in a general sense around the station you can find everything you need for daily life this is why you pretty much don't need to own a car if you're living in a typical tokyo neighborhood you can access everything by foot or bike the latest stats reveal that there's less than half a car per household in tokyo metropolis but what about those big items or when you have lots of items delivery service is excellent sometimes even same day and mostly free you wouldn't need to rent a van or truck to pick up a bed dispose of an old desk or grab that new tv these can all be picked up and delivered the thing i especially like about neighborhoods in tokyo is that virtually everywhere has mixed use zoning what is mixed-use zoning you ask or not mixed-use zoning means that the land can be used for a variety of purposes from residential to commercial to civic to industrial this is why in the same neighborhood you can find a daycare right next to a shrine which is right next to a house which has a beauty shop on the bottom which is next to a small warehouse which is next to a park you'll find all the services and facilities you need scattered throughout the neighborhood from doctors dentists and hospitals to community centers senior care homes and schools even waste energy plants or pumping stations can be found within the neighborhood complete with the parks that surround it but zoning is another topic that i can and will make an entire video on what's important to know is that when it comes to tokyo the lowest level of zoning you'll commonly find still allows for mixed use multi-story apartment buildings and for people to legally run small businesses out of their homes whether it be a little shop selling goods or a little workshop making them the crucial reason i think it's important to know about zoning is that without these laws tokyo and indeed the whole of japan wouldn't be able to have such walkable and bikeable neighborhoods that don't require owning a car to live what i overwhelmingly feel when walking about a neighborhood in tokyo is a sense of safety the best example i can think of is children you see children everywhere from the age of six when children enter elementary school they learn how to walk home from school by themselves you'll also see them running or riding around the neighborhood meeting up with friends like how i remember growing up in the 80s in canada or what my daughter and i see when watching stranger things i mean the kids running around without adult supervision parts not all the dangerous parts why haven't the kids been locked up for their own safety why do i keep on asking questions that would require a dedicated video to properly answer them i'll just name a few aspects that relate to the design of neighborhoods most streets are small and have a speed limit of 30 kilometers or 19 miles per hour that's kind of slow slow enough that kids can feel free to run around in the middle of the streets and do as they please [Music] it's the cars that watch out for the kids not the other way around of course there are bigger streets where the speed limit is 50 kilometers or 31 miles per hour these streets would typically have guard railings and traffic lights so you'll also see kids walking along these streets as well although on the side not in the middle if an area is close to a school zone you'll find silver zinzag which are seniors that work in the community that will be on crossing guard duty you'll also see these silver jinzai at bicycle parking spots as well as at parks for kids they are familiar trusted people that they can go to for help for the neighborhood they act as a kind of neighborhood watch i would argue that the tightly packed homes and businesses slow traffic and walkable streets keep the areas busy enough that there's always someone around these eyes on the street then make people feel safe which is why it's not at all uncommon to see female high schoolers or office workers walking home alone at 9 or 10 in the evening hours after the sun is set [Music] speaking of sunset when it arrives there's a special jingle that plays which reminds kids they should be on their way home [Music] are tokyo's neighborhoods completely safe and devoid of crime no for example a shockingly high number of japanese females i talked to have experienced groping while riding on the trains on the other hand in terms of petty theft and threat of assault i feel confident that the rates are lower than in canadian cities i would roll out a bunch of stats but because of reporting differences and under reporting the best i feel comfortable saying is that in tokyo i have a much bigger feeling of safety in regards to my family and my possessions than i did when living in vancouver or winnipeg is it not hectic living in a typical tokyo neighborhood i think what a lot of people don't realize is that tokyo is more a collection of neighborhoods than it is a megacity you probably wouldn't know it from looking across it from one of its many towers though and even in the busiest of neighborhoods there's usually some calmer spots which you can find at parks at shrines at temples and among many of the riverbanks although not this particular part of naca river where they operate one of the highways and a train line is crossing it but hey they do have a nice park right beside it and behind it public housing run by the tokyo metropolitan government and behind that it's a five minute walk to the train station however i agree that this area is a bit hectic which is why within a 10 minute walk from the station you can find a river park like this completely different atmosphere in my tokyo by bike video i highlighted many of the spots around tokyo where you can find such greenways oh and if you're looking for an indoor place to unwind you can try going to the local bathhouse the sento these local institutions are disappearing at an increasing rate even though you must be annoyed with me saying this i filmed a day in the life of owning a sento with sakai-san so look out for that video there are so many aspects of japanese life that i'll be digging deeper into so if you want to make sure you'll see them please subscribe to see those videos when they come out so yes even in busy tokyo you can get some relative peace you're not going to find yourself completely alone in the wilderness but maybe in certain areas with the masses of people you may feel that way [Music] so [Music] thanks for watching see you next time peace

Channel: Life Where I'm From

Views: 57,702

Rating: 4.9857759 out of 5

Keywords: life where i'm from, tokyo neighbourhood, japanese neighbourhood, japanese city

Id: TheOkz8oF_I

Length: 15min 8sec (908 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 23 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/elr0nd_hubbard]

Visiting Japan entirely changed the way that I viewed cities and transportation. The most eye-opening thing was seeing children under the age of five walking to school and running errands on their own without fear of getting run over by cars. To think that most Americans don't get that sense of "independence" until 16 or so made me really re-asses my own upbringing and how something like urban design can affect a society so deeply.

[u/yes_and_then]

"It's the cars that watch out for the kids and not the other way round"

[u/Twrd4321]

A huge tragedy of this Olympics remains people’s inability to experience Japanese urbanism in person.

[u/Leluche77]

Just saw this earlier and it was amazing. I really wish I could live in Japan instead. Many aspects of Japan are similar too. People still own cars, but you have so many more options you can choose from.

[u/n10w4]

how I would love this in Seattle.

[u/frsti]

In trying to get passionate about improving my local (UK) city I've inadvertantly found that what I *really* want is to never need to go further than 1-2km from my own suburban house to do everything

These smaller self-sustaining areas are great examples of "15-minute cities"

[u/Ceehansey]

Great, now I gotta go home and convince my wife to move to Tokyo with me

[u/govexplainedYT]

I visited Japan when I was 13 and in some ways can't wait to go back for much of the reasons listed in this video. As someone with a visual impairment, much of the American suburbs are basically locked off for me, unless I'm living in a major city I feel as though I'm incapable of living a normal life. In Tokyo? Even in a place like Sapporo? There's enough density and planning to warrant public transit and a life free of owning a car for the most part.

[u/classysax4]

Ugh. Haven’t they ever heard about setbacks, 60-ft right-of-way minimums, and density maximums? /s