[rtpg]

Tokyo's rent is comparable to Dallas or Madison, WI (give or take some square footage because American housing is less efficient in space usage). Way cheaper than NYC for sure.

There are a lot of people who do 90 minute+ commutes for sure. Even for relatively small commutes you end up with a fixed cost of about 20 minutes for just going to the station from your home or leaving to go to the office, so 30 minutes is good.

It's possible to live close to your office if you're willing to live far from trains a lot of the time though. Living 20 minutes from any station instead of 5 easily cuts 30% off the rent

[stcredzero]

How accepting are the authorities and people of electric bikes/scooters?

[alphonsegaston]

People ride scooters all over the place in Japanese cities. They're pretty commonly used for delivery services as well. Biking culture is actually more aggressive than in many places in the US. For example, it's for some reason acceptable to ride your bike on crowded sidewalks, belying everything I understand about notions of Japanese civility.

[karthikb]

One reason this works is that folks use their bells and people yield. Even in more unexpected areas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7oGk-ozhKI

[ghaff]

Not really my experience. I've seen people trying to ride bikes in areas where people could barely walk. And I've been on many sidewalks where not watching your six when moving right or left was an invitation to get run over on a sidewalk.

[Dunan]

Electric bikes are making headway but many employers have rules specifically forbidding employees from riding them (or any other form of personal transportation) to work. There is a major national insurance company with which employers have a contract and that company won't pay out for accidents that happen on the way to or from work while the employee is on a bicycle or in their own car, so employers ban commuting by bicycle or car.