The Infinite City

I’m back in Saigon after a month away, including 10 days in Japan. A week of that time was spent in Tokyo — it was my first time there, and I loved it. I’ll be doing several posts on the trip, but this quick one is about arguably the most noticeable aspect of the Japanese capital: its sheer size.

I know Tokyo is the most populous city on earth, but it’s hard to grasp how sprawling it is until you actually go there. From the vantage point of any high-rise — a friend’s office, or perhaps the metropolitan government building — the city spreads to the horizon.

I rode the train to Mount Takao, on the far western edge of Tokyo, and for over an hour it slid past neighborhood after neighborhood. There was seemingly no end in sight, until suddenly the suburbs just stopped — mountains were the only thing holding the city back.