Tōkyō was wierd. I thought I'd fall in love with it, but I didn't. Tōkyō is a place you go to with mammoth expectations. For many out there, Tōkyō IS Japan. We read manga's, see films, watch anime's and J-drama's where Tōkyō is glamourized and is this lovely looking, hi-tech city - which it is. But strip away the looks and the bright lights, and you find it's a capital, like many others - namely London. I found Tōkyō to be very similar to it, which was pretty deflating. Tōkyō and London aren't one and the same, but there share many similarities. Tōkyō is very reminscent of central London and the West end - with all the hustle, bustle, mad mix of people and roads lined with every store and eatery you can think of.Part of experiencing Japan is taking in the culture and the nuances that make Japan distinctly unto itself. But I found Tōkyō to be so westernized that there were genuinely times I forgot I was in Japan. Where-as in Osaka there was no forgetting it. Osaka just seemed to serve up this nice mix of being a metropolitan city, with all the cool quirks and distinct perks Japan has to offer.
Tōkyō felt cold to me. You feel like a non-entity when you're there. The people don't seem all that friendly or engaging, and everybody seems so disconnected. You also don't feel that special. In Osaka I kinda liked I stuck out like a sore thumb. It caused intrigue. In Tokyo there are so many other foreigners that you end up fitting in and this isn't a good thing. Especially with the perception many folk in Tōkyō (particularly girls) have of 'gaijin'. You end up being ostracized and treated coldly, therefore becoming that non-entity.