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The story
A 5ch thread kicked off with a post claiming “there are plenty of benefits to living in Tokyo,” and the discussion quickly expanded to cover rent, packed commuter trains, and comparisons with other regions. Arguments citing the abundance of jobs and shops were met with a wave of counterpoints about high rent and low disposable income, and comparisons to Kyoto and neighboring prefectures like Saitama and Chiba came up too. Some pointed out that how livable Tokyo feels depends heavily on whether you’re single or married, while others took a cooler view of the one-upmanship aimed at people from rural areas — turning it into a debate that couldn’t be settled as simply better or worse.
What people said
・Lots of jobs
・Lots of shops
NanG regulars (this board's own users, notorious shut-ins) are nothing but hikikomori, so it's a downside if anything
Even if you're active, it's weak for outdoorsy hobbies
Rent and land do seem expensive
If rent's high, running a business is basically going to cost more too
That's also part of why bargain chains like Ra Mu or Kanesue (discount supermarket chains) can't move in
Living somewhere that's nothing but people with zero nature would drive you crazy
Kyoto's rough too though
I hear it's so packed with tourists that locals can't even get on the bus
Tokyo's bad, but Kyoto's pretty crowded too
And it's way too hot. Trash city
I think the wild thing about Tokyo is how this feeling flips 180 degrees depending on whether you're single or married
What's going through the head of someone whose own parents and friends are still out in the countryside, yet they're still lording it over rural people?
Actually, you'd never flex on people you actually know in real life — flexing happens online, so you don't even need to actually live in Tokyo for that
You can just pile on however much fictional backstory you want
・There's Hidakaya (a cheap ramen/Chinese food chain)
That's it. That's literally the only benefit of living in the city if you're poor.
It's not even good though
Hidakaya's just a solid, versatile spot — whatever you order is decently tasty, it's cheap, and you can even use it for drinks
Any reason besides 'can't stand crowds'?
Got my ancestral land, house, and family grave there, so once I retire the countryside wins hands down
If your hobby is just straight-up outdoorsy stuff, the countryside's better, right?
For me it's just that I can't stand crowds
That's a pretty hollow flex
What would a non-hollow flex even look like
Yep, not worth living here
QED
Just live in Kanagawa, Saitama, or Chiba then
You actually think being the one who gets exploited is a perk?
Go outside for once
If you avoid specific spots like Shinjuku or Shibuya, you won't get caught up in that level of crowding
Same with packed trains — it really depends on exactly where you live
If anything, people commuting in from Saitama or Chiba have it worse than actual Tokyo residents, packed trains both ways, so their hell-level is higher
I can't even handle Gunma's packed trains — does anywhere in Tokyo actually beat that?
Is somewhere like Tama less crowded?
> Lots of jobs ← There are no glamorous jobs
> Lots of shops ← You're only ever eating at gyudon chains anyway
> Great transit network ← A life of just getting crammed onto packed trains
> Lots of events ← As if you don't already get stinky breath breathed on you enough
> All the latest stuff gathers here ← Doesn't matter if you're broke
> Lots of celebrities ← What's so great about that? TV slave
> Shops and facilities you can't find elsewhere ← No entry for broke bottom-feeders
> Can live without a car ← Lifelong train slave
> Can lord it over country bumpkins ← Bragging about the big city online, what a loser lol
Bet they worked real hard on that one…
What even is this wall of text
Of course a place rich in nature is going to be less stressful than somewhere that's nothing but buildings
Though that's different if it's inconvenient
That's why Kyoto's number one
Plenty of nature and easy to live in
If you've got the money, sure
Tokyo has the lowest disposable income in the whole country
More like overseas than domestic
Even from Nagoya you're not inconvenienced domestically, but for international flights Tokyo is overwhelmingly better
No way I'm standing on a platform waiting for a train in this heat
Car-dependent living is the best
But apparently people who live car-dependent lives end up with weaker legs and hit frailty — can't walk anymore about 10 years earlier on average
Even if you're single or struggling, you can completely fade into the background
From an outside view, 'what's the point of being in Tokyo with no money' is a fair take, but it's precisely because there are so many singles and strugglers like that to blend in with that people cling to Tokyo
Couldn't you get that anywhere just by staying inside your house the whole time
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Tokyo’s average rent far exceeds the national average, and surveys showing Tokyo ranking near the bottom for disposable income (income minus living costs) regularly make headlines. This thread kept circling back to that point, with opinions split over which matters more: the convenience of abundant jobs and shops, or the burden of high rent and packed trains. The comparisons to Kyoto and neighboring prefectures like Saitama and Chiba also reflect a simmering debate over Japan’s heavy concentration around Tokyo. Note that such rankings and figures vary by survey and year, so the more definitive claims in the thread shouldn’t be taken as hard fact.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (NanJ) thread “[Good News] The Benefits of Living in Tokyo Are Just Too Many.”
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