What Livable Looks Like in Japan

A visit to far away friends provides a tour of livable sights and scenes in and around Tokyo

By Melissa Stanton

The focus of my travel and vacation photos changed significantly after I joined the AARP Livable Communities team in 2014. I now return from trips with souvenir snapshots of streets, buildings, houses, public spaces and lots of strangers as they go about their daily lives. Seeing how and where people in different parts of the United States and the world live, work and play can provide inspiration for making where we live more livable for people of all ages.

— Melissa Stanton, Editor, AARP Livable Communities

Then and Now

Two young women visit with an orange cat in a Tokyo cat cafe.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

A lot has changed between 1986, when I lived in Tokyo, and my return three decades later to visit longtime friends. Cat cafés, such as the one I popped into (pictured), allow animal lovers and the pet-deprived to relax among friendly felines.

Walking in the Middle of the Street

A pedestrian walkway in Kamakura, Japan, runs down the center of a boulevard.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Located about an hour south of Tokyo, the city of Kamakura is home to a Great Buddha. One path to enlightenment is this elevated pedestrian corridor that runs down a busy boulevard.

Criss-Crossing the Street

Multiple crosswalks provide paths for pedestrians in Kamakura, Japan.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

The crosswalks may look like an invitation to chaos but they work, allowing pedestrians to cross a roadway or intersection once rather than twice or more to get where they're going.

Shoppers and Cyclists Welcome

Many streets in the Jiyugaoka neighborhood of Tokyo are pedestrian and shopper friendly.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Tokyo is a densely populated city with dozens of town-sized neighborhoods. In the Jiyugaoka area, as in much of the city, the best way to get around and run errands is without a car.

A Wide Walkway

A very wide crosswalk in downtown Tokyo.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Streets and sideways get crowded with commuters at certain times of the day. Having a super-wide crosswalk helps keep pedestrians moving and vehicles at a safe distance.

Tickets and Translations

Ticket machines in a Tokyo train station.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Japan's vast network of train lines enable people of all ages and abilities to travel within Tokyo and beyond. The route map can be intimidating, but information and assistance is available in multiple languages.

Smoking Section

A designated smoking area on a Tokyo street.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

People wanting to smoke don't just step outside and light up on the sidewalk. Instead, they step outside and then into a designated smoking area.

Clean Commodes

Toilet seat cleaning instructions in a public rest room.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Public toilets are essential to making public spaces welcoming and usable. Many restrooms in Japan provide seat cleaner in lieu of paper seat covers to ensure sanitary seating and reduce the amount of paper used and trash created.

High Tech Toilets

The push button controls on a high-tech toilet in a Japanese rest room

Photo by Melissa Stanton

In-floor squat toilets were once the norm. Today, technically-savvy seated toilets are de rigueur. Both home and public toilets include personal cleansing choices, temperature settings, air freshening and background noise options.

Pictures Say It All

Visual signage on the door of a public rest room in Tokyo.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Written Japanese uses four alphabets — Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji and Romaji. (You can read Romaji.) Pictograms, such as the ones shown on this restroom door, translate into every language.

Indoor-Outdoor Shopping

Happy Road is a covered pedestrian mall in the Oyama neighborhood of Tokyo.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

In the largely residential Oyama neighborhood of northwest Tokyo, the area's main destination for shopping and dining — essentially its Main Street — is a covered, open-air, pedestrian-only corridor called "Happy Road."

For Display Only

A plastic food display in the window of a restaurant in Japan.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Plastic food displays in restaurant windows help entice diners and enable those who can't speak or read Japanese to point to their selection — or match the writing on the displayed item with writing on a menu.

A Fridge for a Few Hours

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Many large train stations open into department stores that house hard-to-resist gourmet markets and eateries. Customers who aren't headed straight home can rent a cool locker for storing perishables.

Courtesy is Contagious

Illustrated signage in Tokyo public places encourage being helpful and courteous to people in need.

Photo by Melissa Stanton

In Japan, even adults read comic books (aka: graphic novels). These illustrations, which are often placed at or near train stations, remind people to be courteous to those needing assistance.

Priority Seating

Photo by Melissa Stanton

Signage reminds passengers to give up certain seats on the train to pregnant women, people with injuries or illnesses, parents with small children and older adults. (One-third of Japan's population is age 60-plus.)

Staying in the Safe Lane

Signage in the Oyama neighborhood of Toyko shows lanes for walking and for bicycling.

Although most city streets are traveled by all sorts of users regardless of a roadway's narrowness, twists and turns, streets with designated lanes for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles make getting around safer for everyone.

Then and Now

The author's Japanese mom holds a picture frame with snapshots of her and the author from the past and present.

Photo by Hiroaki Kobayashi

In many ways, Toyko today felt newer and more livable than when I lived there years ago. It also felt age-friendly, which was helpful since my local friends, my Japanese mom (holding photos of us from 1986 and 2017) and I are all now AARP-eligible

^{Page published September 2017}

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What Livable Looks Like in Japan

A visit to far away friends provides a tour of livable sights and scenes in and around Tokyo

Then and Now

Walking in the Middle of the Street

Criss-Crossing the Street

Shoppers and Cyclists Welcome

A Wide Walkway

Tickets and Translations

FREE! WEEKLY!

Smoking Section

Clean Commodes

High Tech Toilets

Pictures Say It All

Indoor-Outdoor Shopping

For Display Only

Learn More!

A Fridge for a Few Hours

Courtesy is Contagious

Priority Seating

Staying in the Safe Lane

Then and Now