Tokyo is a city of contrasts, blending the old with the new. From ancient Japanese temples to towering skyscrapers, Tokyo has it all. Catch a glimpse of this enchanting, international city with the following unforgettable Tokyo quotes.
1. “Tokyo would probably be the foreign city if I had to eat one city’s food for the rest of my life, every day. It would have to be Tokyo, and I think the majority of chefs you ask that question would answer the same way.” ―Anthony Bourdain
2. “I always had a sense that I would fall in love with Tokyo. In retrospect I guess it’s not that surprising. I was of the generation that had grown up in the ’80s when Japan was ascendant (born aloft by a bubble whose burst crippled its economy for decades), and I’d fed on a steady diet of anime and samurai films.” ―Junot Diaz
3. “Here in Tokyo they’re not just hard working but almost violently cheerful. Down at the Peacock, the change flows like tap water. The women behind the registers bow to you, and I don’t mean that they lower their heads a little, the way you might if passing someone on the street. These cashiers press their hands together and bend from the waist. Then they say what sounds to me like “We, the people of this store, worship you as we might a god.”
―David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames
4. “Tokyo was an origami city folded over and over until something was made of virtually nothing.”
―Christopher Barzak, The Love We Share Without Knowing
5. “Tokyo is a very safe city. At night it becomes quiet the way New York never does.”
―Rick Kennedy, Little Adventures in Tokyo: 39 Thrills for the Urban Explorer
6. “Look at London or Paris: they’re both filthy. You don’t get that in Tokyo. The proud residents look after their city.” ―Tadao Ando
7. “There are so many more people in Tokyo than in New York, but it’s pristine. It’s so organized, and yet the address system is in complete chaos.” ―Nick Wooster
8. “Tokyo is too close up to see, sometimes. There are no distances and everything is above your head – dentists, kindergartens, dance studios. Even the roads and walkways are up on murky stilts. An evil-twin Venice with all the water drained away.”
―David Mitchell, Number9Dream
9. “In Tokyo, we have more three-star Michelin restaurants than Paris.” ―Nobu Matsuhisa
10. “If you go to Tokyo, I think it becomes very obvious that there’s this almost seamless mixture of popular culture and Japanese traditional culture.” ―Kazuo Ishiguro
Sources: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/tokyo, https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/tokyo, http://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/tokyo.html
Photos
1. based on Tokyo_DSC_2739, by M M, CC-by-2.0
2. based on 麵屋武藏 中野 吉祥寺 Tokyo, Japan / Kodak ColorPlus / Nikon FM2, by Toomore Chiang, CC-by-2.0
3. based on 日暮里 Tokyo, Japan / AGFA VISTAPlus / Nikon FM2, by Toomore Chiang, CC-by-2.0
4. based on Laforet ‘Chindon’ Music Band – Harajuku – Tokyo, by DocChewbacca, CC-by-SA 2.0
5. based on Night of Tokyo Big Sight, by heiwa4126, CC-by-2.0
6. based on Tokyo underground 03, by midorisyu, CC-by-2.0