As someone who just lived in tokyo and loved it, you have to admit that Tokyo, and most of Japan is an absolute hellscape of architectural laziness and function over form to a fault. There are so few "beautiful" areas, outside major boulevards and government buildings. Every street is stuffed with exposed electrical wiring, whirring AC units, generic vending machines, mini parking lots, etc.

It's really interesting how anti-Zen it all is, and how the disharmony of Japanese cities contrasts with the harmony, balance, and simplicity of Japanese parks and temples.

Again, as an urbanist, I ADORE Japan; the public transportation, the convenience, the dense urban fabric, but you cannot deny how ugly it all is haha

I really don’t see the appeal outside of a small selection of more interesting areas. It’s got a surprising amount of above ground cables if you’re interested in infrastructure and quite a few trees. But in general most of the city comes off as a forgivable random jumble of mid rise buildings IMO.

No reason to look at publicly photos when street view shows what the city actually looks like.

I lived in Tokyo for years, which is why I'm pointing out that the publicity photos do not match the reality.