The first fact about Tokyo, for me, is that there are too many people. I dont mean the fact that twelve million people live there. That is four million more than London or New York, but it is not an important fact for me.
In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. That is important fact for me. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast when they can, but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams. In this respect, Tokyo is not different from London, Paris or New York. It is different when one wants to walk.
At certain times of the day there may be a lot of people on foot in Londons Oxford Street or near the big shops and stores in other great cities. But the streets near the Ginza in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot, and sometimes it is really difficult to walk.
The worst time to be in the street is at 11:30 at night. That is when the nightclubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35.000 night clubs in Tokyo, and you dont often see one that is empty. Between 11 and 12 everybody is looking for a taxi. Usually the taxi is shared by four or five people who live in the same part of the city.