Shibuya Crossing
The Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is considered one of the most famous intersections in the world. On normal days, several thousand people cross here at the same time when the light turns green—up to 3,000 during peak times. From above, it looks like choreographed chaos: people stream in from all four sides, crossing diagonally and in all directions. What looks like absolute chaos to tourists works surprisingly smoothly. Most people avoid each other with a tiny shrug of the shoulders or a quick turn, so there are hardly any collisions.
The intersection has been featured in countless films, music videos, and TV series, from Lost in Translation to Fast & Furious. Today, it is a hotspot for selfies, drone shots, and livestreams. Neon signs, giant screens, and department stores rise up around Shibuya, making the square a symbol of modern urban density. While travelers stand here fascinated for minutes on end, many locals see the place as nothing more than a functional part of their commute—a symbol of how different everyday life and spectacle can be.

Robot Hotel
The Henn-na Hotel – literally "strange hotel" – opened in 2015 and advertised itself as the "first hotel with robots." Even at check-in, there is no longer a human being at the reception desk, but a dinosaur robot wearing a shirt and tie. It greets guests in several languages and asks for their passports. In addition, other machines help with luggage transport: small robotic vehicles that take suitcases and bring them to the room. There, a digital assistant controls the lights, TV, and curtains.
The idea behind the hotel was to save on labor costs and bring futuristic technology to life. However, it quickly became apparent that robots also have weaknesses: some voice commands were not understood, devices woke guests up in the middle of the night, or were unable to answer simple questions. The hotel has since rehired more human staff, but the robots remain as a curiosity and tourist attraction. The Henn-na Hotel thus represents Japan's desire to experiment, but also the limits of automation in everyday life.

Waste System
Tokyo is notorious for having one of the strictest waste separation systems in the world. While three to four categories are common in many cities, Tokyo can have up to ten depending on the district: paper, cardboard, glass, PET bottles, other plastics, cans, organic waste, residual waste—and sometimes even special categories such as batteries or ceramics. Collection days are strictly regulated, and waste must often be placed in transparent bags so that neighbors and inspectors can immediately see whether everything has been sorted correctly.
The system is based not only on laws, but also heavily on social pressure. Incorrectly sorted waste is often not collected, but left behind—sometimes even placed directly in front of the door. There are reports of bottles being returned with a note saying, "Please dispose of correctly." This can be confusing and stressful for newcomers, but for many locals it has long been routine. The reasoning behind it is pragmatic: in a metropolitan area with over 37 million people, waste must be processed as efficiently as possible. Strict rules prevent mountains of garbage and promote recycling rates that are among the highest in the world.

Tokyo as big as Canada
The Tokyo metropolitan area is the most populous region in the world: over 37 million people live here, roughly the same as the entire population of Canada – a country covering around 9.9 million square kilometers. By comparison, the total area of Tokyo is tiny in relative terms, yet millions of commuters crowd into trains, buses, and onto the streets every day.
This extreme urbanization brings both challenges and solutions. Tokyo's transportation system is considered one of the most efficient in the world: trains run every minute, delays are announced publicly with apologies, and even huge crowds are moved in an orderly fashion. On the other hand, the density also means high housing costs, little space, and a culture of "avoiding each other." Many Japanese people develop subtle social routines to avoid conflicts in crowds – from quiet behavior on the train to precise queuing.
The fact that Tokyo is compared to Canada shows the extremes of human settlement: a country almost as large as Europe with barely 40 million inhabitants – and an urban region with almost the same number, compressed into a few thousand square kilometers. It is a living example of how differently people and space can be distributed – and why Tokyo works despite its cramped conditions, while Canada thrives on its vastness.