The big city that is also pleasant to live in
The big city that is also pleasant to live in
“ONLY THUMBS stood up from the flatlands—the chimneys of bath-houses, heavy house safes and an occasional stout building with heavy iron shutters,” wrote Russell Brines, the first foreign journalist to enter Tokyo after the second world war. From a pre-war population of 7m people, only 3.5m were left. As Tokyo rebuilt, the city was rife with violence and slum-like living conditions. Ahead of the 1964 Olympics, officials rushed to spruce up the infrastructure and clean up the streets, clamping down on then-widespread practices such as public urination.This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline “The big city”From the December 11th 2021 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the edition