In Depth

With a population of about 12.5 million, Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world -- and one of the most intriguing and invigorating. As the nation's capital and financial nerve center, Tokyo has long been a major player in Asia. In a nation of overachievers, Tokyo has more than its fair share of intelligentsia, academics, politicians, businesspeople, artists, and writers, and it's the country's showcase for technology, fashion, art, music, and advertising. People rush around here with such purpose and determination, it's hard not to feel that you're in the midst of something important, that you're witnessing history in the making.

As for innovation, Tokyo has long been recognized as a leader. Indeed, Japan, once dismissed as merely an imitator with no imagination of its own, has long been at the forefront of all things technological, from robots and cars to audiovisual equipment and kitchen and office gadgetry. Walking through the stores of Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics center, provokes an uneasiness few visitors can shake, for it's here that the latest goods are sold long before they reach Western markets. Tokyo also stands at the center of Japan's cool pop culture -- anime (Japanese animation), Hello Kitty, Pokemon -- one of the fastest-growing subcultures in the world.

Yet despite outward appearances, all is not rosy in the land of the rising sun. Its unparalleled economic growth of the 1980s, generating both admiration and envy worldwide, came to an abrupt halt in 1992 with the burst of the economic bubble, unleashing the country's worst recession since World War II and from which it has still not yet recovered.

Homelessness has become so common in Tokyo that it no longer draws stares, even in the swank Ginza district. Crime, once almost unheard of, is a major topic of concern. My former Tokyo landlady fears burglary so much that she no longer opens her door to strangers. The car of my friend's boyfriend was stolen from a parking lot, one of 119 luxury cars reported stolen in Tokyo in 2000.

For the short-term visitor to Tokyo, however, problems that loom in the public psyche are not readily apparent -- unless you go to Ueno or Yoyogi parks, where the number of homeless is nothing short of astounding. Crime, though undeniably on the increase over the past 2 decades, is still negligible when compared to levels in the United States, and Tokyo remains one of the safest cities in the world. (According to an article published September 11, 2007, in the Yomiuri Shimbun, the number of thefts and burglaries in the Tokyo metropolitan area decreased 30% to 50% after the arrest in 2006 of 16 Chinese suspected of operating two burglary rings.)

Although it's true that I am more careful than I was 15 years ago -- I guard my purse in crowded subways and I avoid parks after dark -- for Americans such precautions seem merely self-evident. But while I'm cautious about theft and purse-snatching, I never worry about personal safety when I'm walking the streets of Tokyo. In fact, it never even crosses my mind. Violent crime -- especially against strangers -- remains virtually unheard of in Japan.

Moreover, while Tokyo remains one of the most expensive cities in the world, it now offers something that would have been unthinkable during the spend-happy 1980s, when only designer goods would do and expense accounts seemed unlimited: bargains. Tony French restaurants serve value-conscious fixed-price lunches, there are buffets virtually everywhere, secondhand clothing stores sell last year's designer wear, 100-Yen discount shops do a brisk business, and some hotels -- particularly those at the lower end -- haven't raised their rates in years.

Today, after more than 15 years of recession, the economy seems to be on the mend. Since April 2003, when the Nikkei (the Japanese version of the American Dow) plunged to a 20-year low at 7,608, it has since climbed to more than 15,000. Tokyo property prices, which had fallen as much as 70% from their 1991 peak, rose for the first time in 2004, spurring investors to return.

In fact, after years of no new attractions, few new hotels, deflated prices, and only a handful of new developments, Tokyo is experiencing something of a development boom, led by auctions of massive land tracts once owned by Japan Railways near train stations, especially Tokyo Station. Several major urban developments have sprouted the past few years, most notably the Marunouchi district east of Tokyo Station with its spanking-new skyscrapers and tree-lined shopping street; Roppongi's Tokyo Midtown, which boasts Tokyo's tallest building along with shops, restaurants, an art museum, apartments, and offices; and leader of the pack Roppongi Hills, which stretches over 12 hectares (30 acres) and contains 230 shops and restaurants, offices, luxury apartments, and an art museum (my favorite part of the Roppongi Hills story: It took developer Mori Minoru 18 years of negotiation with 500 property owners to secure the land for development). In or near these new developments is a blitz of foreign-owned luxury hotels, including the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo; Grand Hyatt Tokyo; Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo; and The Peninsula Tokyo. In 2007, Tokyo witnessed its first new major museums in over a decade: The National Art Center, Tokyo, and Suntory Museum of Art, which, together with Roppongi Hills' Mori Art Museum, form the new Art Triangle Roppongi.

Of course, the influx of new hotels and office buildings is giving some Tokyoites the jitters. A glut of new office space may translate into empty buildings; the onslaught of new hotels has launched a battle for survival.

In addition, one of Japan's most pressing long-term concerns is a declining birth rate coupled with an aging population, with Japan's over-65 generation, which now accounts for more than 20% of its population, expected to double by 2055. Meanwhile, Japan's ratio of children aged 14 and younger is believed to be the lowest in the world, accounting for only 13.6% of the population. The government has predicted that Japan's total population could plunge by nearly one-third by 2055, causing tax-revenue shortfalls and a shortage of labor.

Despite what the future may bring, however, I'm convinced Tokyo at street level will remain as it's always been -- humming with energy, crowded beyond belief, and filled with acts of human kindness.

Did You Know?

• Tokyo has been the capital of Japan only since 1868; before that, Kyoto served as capital for more than 1,000 years.
• Ten percent of Japan's total population lives in Tokyo -- more than 12 million residents. Almost a quarter of Japan's total population lives within commuting distance.
• Tokyo's workers commute to work an average of 90 minutes one-way. Shinjuku Station handles the most train and subway passengers in all of Japan, more than one million people a day; more than 60 exits lead out of the station.
• Tokyo has suffered widespread destruction twice in the past century -- in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and from World War II firebombs. In both instances, more than 100,000 people lost their lives.
• During the Edo Period (1603-1867), Edo (former Tokyo) witnessed almost 100 major fires, not to mention countless smaller fires.
• Tokyo sprawls over 1,288 sq. km (497 sq. miles), yet most streets are not named.
• Rickshaws originated in Tokyo in 1869; 4 years later, there were 34,000 of the people-propelled vehicles in the capital city.
• Park space in Tokyo is woefully inadequate -- just 4.52 sq. m (5 1/2 sq. yd.) per capita, compared to 45.7 sq. m (55 sq. yd.) in Washington, D.C.
• According to city government 2006 estimates, approximately 3,500 homeless were living in Tokyo, mainly in city parks and along riverbanks. There are 18,500 homeless nationwide.

The Floating World of Yoshiwara

During the Edo Period (1603-1867), prostitution in Japan was not only allowed, it was -- along with everything else in feudal Japan -- regulated and strictly controlled by the Tokugawa shogunate. Licensed quarters arose in various parts of Edo (now Tokyo), but none was as famous or as long-standing as Yoshiwara, the "floating world of pleasure." Opened in 1657 in the midst of rice fields, far outside the city gates upriver from Asakusa, Yoshiwara rose to such prominence that, at its height, as many as 3,000 prostitutes, referred to as "courtesans," worked their trade here. The services they rendered depended on how much their customers were willing to spend. Some men, so they say, stayed for days. Stories abound of how more than a few lost their entire fortunes.

The top-ranked courtesan, known as Tayu, was distinguished by her gorgeous costume, which often weighed as much as 40 pounds and included a huge obi (sash) knotted in front. Many of the courtesans, however, had been sold into prostitution as young girls. To prevent their escape, a moat surrounded Yoshiwara, which could be entered or exited only through a guarded gate. The courtesans were allowed out of the compound once a year, during an autumn festival. Such virtual imprisonment was abolished only in 1900. Yoshiwara itself was closed down in 1957, when prostitution became illegal.