Tokyo is more like several cities joined together. The main areas like Ikebukuro, Shinjuko, Shibuya, Ginza, Akihabara, Ueno, etc.... are all like separate down towns. In between it is a lot of commercial and businesses but not the super tall buildings. In the busy areas the tall buildings are quite different in that there is a lot of retail space on upper floors. You can go to the 10th floor of a building and find a karaoke bar, a book shop, a restaurant, a gym or a spa. All the buildings seemed to be like that and on all floors. Many apartment stores have 5 to 10 floors. Walking around the city, Tokyo felt big. I have yet to look at population numbers but it felt at least 4 to 5 times as big as NYC.

Japan is very Japanese. By this I mean that it is the least multicultural place I have ever been. For every 100 Japanese you walk by, you might encounter one or two non-Japanese. I understand this is true in that 98% or more of the people in Japan are Japanese. I believe that even marrying a Japanese, a foreigner never gains full citizenship. This also means that you are not going to get by with English. People are super friendly and helpful but do not speak English. The subway and JR reil lines are super efficient and easy to get around on but once you hit the street, the signs are in Japanese if you can find any. I would strongly suggest anyone going gets portable wi-fi and use your google maps to navigate. Traditional maps like the ones in Lonely Planet are useless because the street signs are all in Kanji and are too hard to decipher.

Get a Suica or Pasmo card and load it up to travel on the subway or JR rail lines. The rail-line is just an above ground subway and to get from point A to B, sometimes subways are better and sometimes the JR rail line is. Consider them interchangeable.

Tokyo is very safe

Stay in a hotel near a major subway stop. I stayed in Ikebukuro and it was perfect. Lots to do and not as crazy busy as Shibuya or other stops.

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