10 observations about Tokyo
1. A lot of people have big ceramic dogs outside their doors. 2. Speaking of dogs , when you see a leashed one take a pee, his owner will almost always pull out a water bottle from their satchel and dilute the puddle. I have seen this a dozen times. 3. Were I to live here, the dense, low-rise neighborhoods of east Tokyo would be my first choice to settle down. They more resemble a sedate village than a bustling metropolis. These shitamachi ("low city") neighborhoods are not car-dependent suburbs. And they don't conform to neat, spacious suburban grids. The layout of these areas is more like the frenetic maze of a Pac-Man game, inviting comparisons to third-world slums. Minor detail: They're not slummy! Best yet, thanks to Japan's relaxed zoning rules, even quiet residential alleyways are sprinkled with mom-and-pop businesses. Check out the twists and turns of this pocket neighborhood in Taito City. The sign at the beginning says something like "Don'
