Tokyo 1

So it's my first night in Tokyo and I've actually been suprised at how well I've been able to get around and how little the language barrier has effected me. Sure, I can't understand much, and the computure I'm on right now is in Japanese, but alot of signs are in english and everything makes sense for the most part.

I will undoubtedly say that Tokyo is by far the densest city I have ever seen. Most streets are about the size of alley's and yet they are vibrant with storefronts. Its truely bazaar in alot of senses. I will say that most of the buildings in Tokyo aren't the best looking, but its overshadowed by the cities density and at night everything is hidden in the over powering glow of neon signs that turns the night into day. So far I've only gotten to see 2 parts of town, Asakusa and Ueno, but have been really impressed with both. Asakusa is centered around a sort of complex of traditional Japanese architecture. There is a great open air market where vendors sell food, clothing, and crafts. This old charm quickly turns into a bustleing urban interchange. 3 large avenues terminate at Ueno Station. The intersection is so large and complex that a elevated pedestrian walkway bridges the entire intersection, while and elevated train goes into the station and an even taller elevated highway goes over everything. The highways here seem to all be elevated, which allows for twice the surface area for cars. However I have heard that the elevated system does little to improve traffic flow as it is not large enough for the demand. Aside from the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road here in Japan, for some reason all of the cabs have mirrors on their hoods insead of on the window where they usually should go, still haven't figure that one out. Space is obviously a big problem in Tokyo. So much so that there is actually buildings under the elevated train tracks. A number of movies have made jokes about living right next to the tracks like that, but imagine how bad it must be to actually live under the tracks. Long story short, the city has too many people. Haha they also have 2016 olympic banners all over the place, which is a total shame because the olympics are difinatly going to be in Chicago, sorry about your luck guys!