tokyo: cold, crowded, and kinda confusing
so i'm in tokyo. it's... well, it's tokyo. i just checked the weather and it's freezing at 4.6°C (feels like 1.23°C) right now, hope you like that kind of thing. this place is a beast - sits on tokyo bay at the head of honshu, smack in the kantō region. the coordinates are 35°41′N 139°41′E, which means nothing to me except it's basically the center of japan's archipelago. they say the mainland's only 90km east-west and 25km north-south, but feels way bigger.
historically, it was edo - a fishing village that turned into a castle town under the tokugawas. edo castle was built where water met land on reclaimed wetlands. now it's the imperial palace. renamed tokyo in 1868 when it became the capital. it grew from those 23 special wards into this massive metropolis with suburbs and even remote islands.
geographically, it's a mess - low eastern floodplains (as low as 4m above sea level!), western hills up to 2000m, plus volcanic islands out in the pacific. they split it into eastern wards, the tama area, and island chains. climate's mild winters but summers are sweaty hell. rainy seasons in early summer and autumn, plus 2-3 typhoons in sept-oct.
if you get bored, chiba, yamanashi, kanagawa, and saitama are just a short drive away. together they form the greater tokyo area - 41 million people! that's more than some countries. someone told me that the eastern 'low city' used to be swampland while the western 'high city' was hills. explains why the eastern bits flood so easily.
attractions? edo castle (imperial palace now), ueno park on a historic peninsula, okutama for hiking, and the izu islands for volcanic stuff. modern hubs like shinjuku station - that place is nuts.
food-wise? search didn't give specifics but it's got sushi, ramen, tempura, and street foods like yakitori. someone told me that the ramen here is life-changing, but also that the typhoons in september are no joke.
population's insane - 14 million in the city proper, 41 million in the greater area. dense but commuter-friendly. punctuality's huge here, and they love their tech. autumn leaves are a big deal.
things to know: it's intimidating. use the rail lines to narita/haneda and major stations. prepare for typhoons, humidity, earthquakes (those eastern plains are shaky), and floods. the layout's compact - get an ic card and navigation app. living costs are high, suburbs are crowded.
what stands out? world's largest metro area (41 million), japan's economic/governmental center, this reclaimed wetland-turned-megacity with mountains and islands. "low city" contrasts "high city" - shows how they built this thing from swamps. planet's busiest stations and a global innovation hub.
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