Comments on: Osaka: Sleeping & Shopping in Amerika-mura http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/archives/362 Turning a New Leaf Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:14:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: pipes http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/archives/362/comment-page-1#comment-52 pipes Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:56:38 +0000 http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/?p=362#comment-52 Oh, there are people here all right - it's just that they're concentrated highly in the large cities. My early travels were in more suburban areas, where there are fewer people. For example, Shimo-suwa (where Stephen & Skye were living) has a population of only 23,300 people and a density of 348 persons per km². Miyajima, where I was two days ago, is rural and mountainous, only 12 sq. miles, and has a population of about 2000 people, but thousands of tourists all over it. And that hilariously tiny rural train station I stopped at, Minami-Otari? Was in the village of Otari, population 4,122 with an extremely low density of 15.39 persons per km². Tokyo is another beast altogether. The GTA (Greater Tokyo Area) is the world's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of over 35 million: as compared to our GTA (Greater Toronto Area), the most populous metropolitan area in Canada and 8th largest in North America, with a population of just 5.5 million. The cities themselves also tell a different story about density. Toronto has about 2.5 million people, with a density of 3,972/km². Tokyo has about 12.8 million people, packed very close together with a density of 5,847 /km². Personally, I've failed to take photos of the worst crowds, which are entirely consisting of tourists crushing in to see the shrines, temples and castles during this "mankai" or full-cherry-blossom-time, high season for travelers. The vast volume of Chinese, Japanese and foreign tourists thronging the attractions at Himeji and here in Kyoto is driving me mad - I can't wait to get back to the relative peace and quiet of Tokyo! Ha ha. Miss you too Mum, love, M.A. Oh, there are people here all right – it’s just that they’re concentrated highly in the large cities. My early travels were in more suburban areas, where there are fewer people.

For example, Shimo-suwa (where Stephen & Skye were living) has a population of only 23,300 people and a density of 348 persons per km². Miyajima, where I was two days ago, is rural and mountainous, only 12 sq. miles, and has a population of about 2000 people, but thousands of tourists all over it.

And that hilariously tiny rural train station I stopped at, Minami-Otari? Was in the village of Otari, population 4,122 with an extremely low density of 15.39 persons per km².

Tokyo is another beast altogether. The GTA (Greater Tokyo Area) is the world’s most populous metropolitan area, with a population of over 35 million: as compared to our GTA (Greater Toronto Area), the most populous metropolitan area in Canada and 8th largest in North America, with a population of just 5.5 million.

The cities themselves also tell a different story about density. Toronto has about 2.5 million people, with a density of 3,972/km². Tokyo has about 12.8 million people, packed very close together with a density of 5,847 /km².

Personally, I’ve failed to take photos of the worst crowds, which are entirely consisting of tourists crushing in to see the shrines, temples and castles during this “mankai” or full-cherry-blossom-time, high season for travelers. The vast volume of Chinese, Japanese and foreign tourists thronging the attractions at Himeji and here in Kyoto is driving me mad – I can’t wait to get back to the relative peace and quiet of Tokyo! Ha ha.

Miss you too Mum, love, M.A.

]]> By: Moira Fogarty, Sr. http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/archives/362/comment-page-1#comment-51 Moira Fogarty, Sr. Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:30:54 +0000 http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/?p=362#comment-51 I really thought that Japan would have more people on the streets, but some of the photos you have taken seem to give lie to that! Miss you - Love, Mom I really thought that Japan would have more people on the streets, but some of the photos you have taken seem to give lie to that! Miss you – Love, Mom

]]> By: Chris Moran http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/archives/362/comment-page-1#comment-50 Chris Moran Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:47:25 +0000 http://www.pipesdreams.org/blog/?p=362#comment-50 Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you. Chris Moran Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Chris Moran

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