not a western city

Just got through this chapter and it struck many chords of interest and observations that I have personally made and perfectly summarizes them. So I thought to share some quotes that I felt most directly resonated with my experiences.

Chapter: Feeling At Home in Tokyo

Tokyo Totem

"Tokyo has a disassociated and fragmented nature, with no center to five you a sense of direction."

A concept that may help us to understand how Tokyoites feel at home is the duality of "uchi" and "soto". Uchi means inside, soto means outside, and the dual concept is often associated with the creation os a sense of self in Japan...Uchi connotes not the individual but the closets group around the individual: the community."

"...uchi and soto can be compared with the Western concepts of private and public. Both dualities have intimate, emotional connotations and more political connotations. One difference is that uchi and soto are more flexible concepts, less well defined. They're understood in context."

"...And to remind people of what constitutes correct social behavior, alt through the city you can find stickers with two eyes looking at you plastered on walls and vans. It seems that there is always someone watching, and making sure you behave yourself."

"The streets sometimes feel like an extension of the home, as if the key uchi, the family inner circle, colonized the street."