The Japan Factor
Nov. 23rd, 2009 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kojaxs(I wrote most of this entry earlier this month. I couldn't think of any deeper insights or anecdotes to make it a better post. I've given up and I'm posting it as is. Basically it's a short post on the convenience of life in central Tokyo.)
Whenever you do any reading on China you inevitably come across what I like to call the China Factor. Given the sheer greatness of China's population, things back home are often inflated by a factor of at least 100. Therefore a "small" Chinese village would have a population of 1 million. Moving to Nakano, the most densely populated of Tokyo's 23 special wards (with 20,097 people/km^2), makes me think of similar matters of scale. Nakano is very residential, which means that there are multiple businesses that have set up to cater to the needs of all these people, all in a very compact piece of land. What this means for me, a resident of this fine ward, is that I have choice. Need dry cleaning? No problem, there are 3-4 choices within a 5 minute walk. Ditto for ramen, convenience stores, Indian food, video rental shops, super markets, public baths, and a whole bunch of other things I could think to want. If I'm willing to walk a bit further my options become even greater. Needless to say, I'm not in Canada anymore.
Whenever you do any reading on China you inevitably come across what I like to call the China Factor. Given the sheer greatness of China's population, things back home are often inflated by a factor of at least 100. Therefore a "small" Chinese village would have a population of 1 million. Moving to Nakano, the most densely populated of Tokyo's 23 special wards (with 20,097 people/km^2), makes me think of similar matters of scale. Nakano is very residential, which means that there are multiple businesses that have set up to cater to the needs of all these people, all in a very compact piece of land. What this means for me, a resident of this fine ward, is that I have choice. Need dry cleaning? No problem, there are 3-4 choices within a 5 minute walk. Ditto for ramen, convenience stores, Indian food, video rental shops, super markets, public baths, and a whole bunch of other things I could think to want. If I'm willing to walk a bit further my options become even greater. Needless to say, I'm not in Canada anymore.
