re: Tokyo's poorest neighborhood

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well... go on. Say it.

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they were purified with fire

I'll take that trade off.

America is trashy. Simple as that.

so wait...you're telling me you can take pride in yourself and your surroundings no matter what your SES is?? That's not what I've been told at all..weird

The Japanese people are awesome. We could learn a thing or two from their culture. Just don’t piss off the Yakuza.

I mean have you seen the dedication the samurai put into the most mundane things?

Of course they care more about life and living well than we, or really almost anyone else on this planet does.

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Lots of things a government can do when you reduce freedom

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Japan is very free

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not a single empty grocery cart roaming the parking lot in that part of the world...

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I kept looking for a Pineapple White Owl wrapper and was sorely disappointed. Guess they just don't sell 'em there.

Can we swap a bunch of homeless for some poor Japanese?

My wife (no pics) is Japanese so I've been to Japan with her to visit family. Tokyo is exceptionally clean. You'll rarely see a piece of litter on the ground. In fact, in many places, there are very few trash cans to dispose of your trash if you're walking around. Japanese tend not to eat while walking along or standing around on the street. Eating and drinking on local trains, but not long distance express trains, is also frowned upon.

Many stores place most of their items for sale outside the front of the store. Because there is little chance that anyone will steal anything. Quite a few Japanese use bikes as transportation. You can walk by bike racks where riders have left their bikes and you'll notice that there are no locks on the bikes. I've never seen anyone steal anything.

It's a fascinating and beautiful country. People are very friendly, especially if you make an effort to speak Japanese. It's worth a trip to go if you haven't been before.