South Korea, Taiwan, and China all developed their infrastructure relatively recently, so it makes sense that their skyscrapers and subway systems are gleaming.
Fast forward 50 years (once the demographic collapse has fully hit Asia and Europe), and we'll see if their infrastructure continues to be so modern.
I live in Tokyo - on the surface certain lines have dated exteriors on their trains and stations, but they are maintained so much better and built with much more care to the surrounding environment that it's impossible for me to compare with NYC.
NYC's trains are constantly late, always go out of service, are deafeningly loud, incredibly slow, filthy, don't have great coverage outside of the Manhattan core and generally unreliable. Tokyo's are always on time, very clean, pretty silent, have incredible coverage of the entire metro area especially in combination with the bus networks (which also are efficient, clean, and don't hold lower-class stigma), and are super fast.
The lines that aren't underground in NYC tend to be depressing under the tracks and pretty unlivable around them, leading to tons of urban blight; the over-ground lines in Tokyo, thanks to their thoughtful design and reasonable noise level, are often full of shops, restaurants, bars, and walking paths that people actually use, positively contributing to their neighborhoods.
The main thing that feels "old" about Tokyo's trains is just that they look like they were decorated a long time ago or are kinda plain; but from a functional perspective they outclass practically any system on the planet, especially when taking into account the integration into the broader Shinkansen network. They have the best safety record of any rail system anywhere and are economically sustaining. The only major complaint I have is that it's relatively expensive fare-wise, especially considering transfers between different rail companies' lines/buses.
Also, it's worth checking out the pre-Olympics revamp of some lines - for instance Ginza Line (Shibuya station especially) and Odakyu Line (Setagaya Daita-Shimokitazawa in particular) got a lot of station and neighborhood renovations that give them that sparkly new shine.
Aside, I've also lived in Shanghai before - the rail network in China is something to watch, their high speed rail stations and urban networks are very nice as of late, although they need more express lines within city limits (Shanghai/Beijing are enormous so crossing the city by rail takes a long time).
I actually love the rugged but high quality stainless steel look of Japanese trains. I think Starship might bring this look back into fashion. Functional and extremely durable. Airstream caravans are another example of it and they’re beloved too.
I have not been to Japan, but I have read several fairly detailed accounts coming from multiple travel bloggers.
One thing they all pointed out is that Japan is full of what by our standards would be considered semi-antique technology like trolleys from the 1950s and computers and fax machines from the 1990s, that are all still being used, and maintained in really good condition.
Living in Tokyo, do you notice this as well? I assume this sort of commitment to maintenance / "orderliness" must be cultural?
Old technologies do stay in use for a long time, and while it’s annoying to need to send a fax occasionally, they’ve made it brilliantly easy to do by providing fax services for < $0.50 in any convenience store in the city (there are like 50,000+ of those). Generally don’t need to though and for the most part I’m using more advanced technology than in the USA (like the transit payment cards, which with Japan’s recent cashless push are accepted in most stores).
Ikebukuro is the nearest place to where I live that has a reputation for being “dangerous”, with a homeless population and a large yakuza-dominated nightlife district, but by that I mean there’s like 20 harmless old drunk men around in the plaza sitting around, and a high concentration of sex shops - not dangerous at all though by foreign standards (small women can still feel safe walking around at 3am if they felt like it).
There are no really bad parts of Tokyo. One of most economically deprived areas, Minami-Senju/Minowa, is popular with backpackers and doesn't really look much different from anywhere else in suburban Tokyo to the untrained eye. (The trained eye will spot quite a few aging day laborers drowning their sorrows in cheap sake and a lot of down-market brothels though.)
> But Tokyo infrastructure felt basically as old as NYC infrastructure to me
In part because it is, most of Tokyo's major subway lines were built in the 1960s to 1970s. Ginza line was built before WW1 and was the first subway in Asia.
The highways were all built soon after the war too.
Thus part of the issue is age. Japan stabilized much sooner than Korea and built up faster.
A bigger component though is Japan's preference to build new then let sit. Maintenance for visual reasons is rare. Thus combined with the high humidity stuff rusts and molds. You can see rust on iron beams waiting at the JR platform in Shibuya! Literal rust on one of the most high traffic stations in the world with gleaming skyscrappers as your backdrop.
In part Japan feels like a retired country. All the heavy lifting has been done. The mortgage paid. I joke with friends we are young people in an old country. Everything around us is going into the night, and we are just now waking up.
I like it, but I can see why others would prefer a newer country.
Thanks for the perspective! I also don't mean to say one is better or worse. I think Tokyo, Seoul, and NYC are awesome. I've lived in NYC for the past 5 years and it's by far my favorite city in the US.
> All of Asia started from scratch after WW2 and Korea was only 10 years behind Japan due to their war.
The Seoul subway [1] opened its first line in the mid-1970s (8km of line 1). Most of their subway growth opened in 1995 and later, a huge amount post-2000.
The first Tokyo subway line [2][3] opened in 1927, with only 3 new lines since the late 1970s (and barely even any line extensions in the 2000s)
Fast forward 50 years (once the demographic collapse has fully hit Asia and Europe), and we'll see if their infrastructure continues to be so modern.