Tokyo, Japan
Vending Machine Metropolis
"37 Million People, Zero Personal Space"
Official Coat of Arms
A shield quartered by rail lines, bearing a rampant vending machine dispensing hot coffee and cold coffee from adjacent slots, above a Shibuya crossing rendered as a sea of tiny heraldic figures all crossing at once, with the motto banner reading 'Excuse Me, Sumimasen' in a perpetual loop.
TripAdvisor Review
★★★★☆ 4/5
"Came for the neon and stayed because I couldn't find the exit from Shinjuku Station for three days. The trains run with terrifying precision but I have never been more aggressively pushed by a man wearing white gloves. Ate the best ramen of my life at 2am from a place with six seats, would give ten stars for food alone but docking points for the fact that my hotel room was smaller than my carry-on suitcase."— Barry Fenwick, Droitwich Spa
Property Listing
Bijou 12-square-metre pod apartment offering unrivalled proximity to literally everything, featuring a fold-out bed that doubles as your kitchen, living room, and existential crisis space! Steps from a 24-hour convenience store that will genuinely save your life, and just an eleven-minute, four-transfer commute from anywhere you'd actually want to be.
Twinned With
Manhattan — Both cities have convinced their residents that a shoebox with a hot plate constitutes 'luxury living'.
Supporting Evidence
Tokyo's Shinjuku Station is used by over 3.5 million passengers a day and has more than 200 exits, meaning it is entirely possible to enter as a tourist and emerge, spiritually and geographically, a different person.