The worst thing about big cities is the noise. Don't know about Tokyo, but Beijing is really polluted and noisy. However small cities seems to have an issue with international mixed families(seen it in China and Europe).

I guess I prefer bigger cities after all :)

Tokyo is pretty clean and relatively noise-free compared to New York etc.

As some know I maintain a second job acting on Japanese TV.

Today I was filming a piano segment for NHK and was in Shibuya for the filming.

[attachment=17822:Sights26Thumb.png] Full View

This iconic crossing is featured in almost every foreign movie involving Japan, including Lost in Translation, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Resident Evil: Afterlife and Retribution.

Unrelated, but filming went so well they said I would become a regular on the show. It’s about classical music and they do re-enactments of past musicians playing their songs etc., so for this I got to sit at a $100,000 Steinway & Sons Model D concert grand piano with a camera shoved in my face and play.

Because most people on the show have to have some ability in either piano or guitar, they typically only use a small set of actors, and they have their core set already, so getting onto the show is a bit tough. But now I’m in the core set, and my agent (who had never given me any piano jobs in the past) said she would give me first pick on future piano jobs for other shows as well.

Fun day.

L. Spiro

Tokyo is pretty clean and relatively noise-free compared to New York etc.

Kind of noise is that matters - for example noise of cars runing slowly through the city is deadly, the noise of people or airplanes I do not found such bad. Also air state is important to me (quality of air to breath - I found it bad in general on the whole planet )

I guess the noise does not bother me for a few reasons. One being that I simply like to be reminded of civilization ever-so-often.

But another is that it’s my choice when I hear it.

It takes 30 seconds to get to the station. Then I put on headphones and listen to my music on the train, so I am not bothered by the sounds.

Then I emerge from the station and walk to work. I can continue listening to my headphones, but usually I take them off to stay alert when crossing roads. There are very few road accidents in Japan, but it’s just my policy.

I hear the noise of passing cars for at most 20 minutes per day.

I normally eat at McDonald’s which is also just 30 seconds away.

If I want to go to Subway at the mall, it’s 7 or so minutes by foot, but I can take back alleys with no vehicles what-so-ever until the bridge, which is 80% of the journey.

If I go to Denny’s, the whole route is nothing but back alleys, plus a grassy area where I hear crickets chirping. The same noises I hear in the countryside.

So all of this is really not the main issue.

When people complain about the noise of the city, they are really talking about the noises they hear when they are at home. The noise they can’t control.

Ever since I was a child I always lived on farms, but we would visit my grandmother in the city and in her house I would hear passing cars and even ambulances, and to me it was so relaxing.

But that’s not even an issue right now, because I simply don’t hear passing cars at home. I live too high above ground, as you can tell from all the shots I have taken from my room.

So it’s really what you make it.

There is literally no way to generalize big cities, or at least not Tokyo. Shanghai has a huge pollution problem, and that is true no matter where you are etc.

But in Tokyo there is very little pollution, only as much noise as I want there to be, etc. The only thing unavoidable is the number of people, and indeed a bit of racism once some people get drunk.

But since you can pass out on the sidewalk and awaken with your wallet still in your pocket here, that really isn’t an issue. It’s actually safer than a lot of countrysides in the world.

In fact, let me put it this way as far as security goes: I’ve been robbed in my countryside home in America. I’ve left my iPad 3 on the ground once only to find it still sitting there an hour later in Tokyo.

L. Spiro

I normally eat at McDonald’s which is also just 30 seconds away.

Now that is sad. So much good food there and then you chose McDonald's. I did eat McDonald's sometimes the four years I spent in China but only like once or twice at month. Mostly because my wife and children(Chinese wife remember) like to eat it sometimes and our kids are all crazy about the fries

I love dumplings(Jiaozi), all the good pickles(xuelihong) and mapodoufu(spicy dish) etc. etc. I even like the Japanese Sushi stuff. Ants on tree(mayi shangshu) is a great dish to. No ants included just a name(thank God for that). It is glass noodles made of beans in spicy soup with minced pork meat

I simply love bitter melon(kugua) and aubergine dishes. Or the liangbanhuanggua. An awesome cucumber cold dish with vinegar and garlic.

I also use to eat a lot of Korean barbecue in Beijing. Awesome stuff.

The King is of course the Hotpot(huoguo). Maaaaan that is nice. A whole table full of thinly sliced piece of pork, lamb and beef meat. Tofu, cabbage, mushroom in all kinds of shapes and forms(from Chinese mushrooms to golden needles), fresh shrimps, great oils from spicy to more nut like tastes. All this stuff is put in the hot pot with hot spicy(if one chose the spicy one) soup and then dip in the oils that is mixed up in small bowls. That dish is daaaaaaaaa beeeest of them all

I normally eat at McDonald’s which is also just 30 seconds away.

Now that is sad. So much good food there and then you chose McDonald's. I did eat McDonald's sometimes the four years I spent in China but only like once or twice at month. Mostly because my wife and children(Chinese wife remember) like to eat it sometimes and our kids are all crazy about the fries

I love dumplings(Jiaozi), all the good pickles(xuelihong) and mapodoufu(spicy dish) etc. etc. I even like the Japanese Sushi stuff. Ants on tree(mayi shangshu) is a great dish to. No ants included just a name(thank God for that). It is glass noodles made of beans in spicy soup with minced pork meat

I simply love bitter melon(kugua) and aubergine dishes. Or the liangbanhuanggua. An awesome cucumber cold dish with vinegar and garlic.

I also use to eat a lot of Korean barbecue in Beijing. Awesome stuff.

The King is of course the Hotpot(huoguo). Maaaaan that is nice. A whole table full of thinly sliced piece of pork, lamb and beef meat. Tofu, cabbage, mushroom in all kinds of shapes and forms(from Chinese mushrooms to golden needles), fresh shrimps, great oils from spicy to more nut like tastes. All this stuff is put in the hot pot with hot spicy(if one chose the spicy one) soup and then dip in the oils that is mixed up in small bowls. That dish is daaaaaaaaa beeeest of them all

It remembers me that I am terribly hungry at the moment...

I live in central europe but I found some oriental soup small eating place (named Green Dragon or something), and they got terribly good rich aromatic oriental soups here (not expensive. mcdonald prices, and terribly good, dishes were crazy hot :/ always something interesting to watch on when waiting for food/eating etc ) <tears (damn, that was a thing)>