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Comment by pezezin | Hacker News Reader

I have been living in the inaka for 8 years now and I always laugh at this kind of articles. They only focus on the core areas of Tokyo, Osaka, and a few big others cities, and forget to mention that outside of those areas the whole country is just endless urban sprawl of the ugliest, soulless cities you can imagine.

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This article is specifically about its most livable cities. Why would you expect them to discuss the cities people don't want to live in? Every country has plenty of these. The point is to show the things that make a place livable, not to show all the ways a place isn't.

Because these articles always talk about the good parts and never mention the bad parts which make up the vast majority of the country.

I wouldn't say it's the vast majority if Tokyo/Chiba/Saitama/Yokohama holds like a third of the population. Add in those other cities you mentioned and the majority of the population lives in cities.

Of course in any developed country the majority of the population lives in cities. What I mean is that Japanese cities, outside of a few core areas, are really ugly and depressing.

Livable according to who?

People in Japan, especially those in the countryside, disdain Tokyo. If it was absolutely livable, this wouldn’t be the case.

Sure, Tokyo is relatively more livable than other urban centers.

just don't live in the countryside then, there's a reason their population is decreasing

Unfortunately my workplace is in the countryside. Someone decided it was a good idea to build a big international research center in the middle of nowhere. Which is now a liability for the project, as few people want to come work here.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Qf8EGk97jStkJFP7

People are forced to go to the big cities for economic reasons and not lifestyle reasons. Unlike America, it’s not just white collar office workers who must relocate to urban centers. This concentration forms a feedback loop.

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