[m_mueller]

I wouldn't want to do this daily and thus wouldn't accept work in the business center of Tokyo. But here's why Japanese way of living and commuting still makes more sense to me than the equivalent in the US:

* Japan has a very open zoning law. There's nothing stopping developers building residential buildings of different pricing levels right next to businesses. This more often allows people to move close to their work.

* partly thanks to the first reason, Tokyo is quite a bit less centralized than, say, NY. You can also see this clearly in its skyline. I found that even during rush hours it's usually no problem for me to arrive where I need on time - on those lines that can get completely full the frequency of connections tends to be very high, so you can just wait in line for the next one. And yes, queueing for a train actually works in Japan.

* Even when taking a crowded train I still feel more relaxed than a similar situation in Europe or the US - mainly because Japanese are just more considerate. People are always filling up empty spaces, move with the flow and give space when needed - you just ask nicely and otherwise do what you can on your part to make things work together. There's also no smells and no noises. I think I could get used even to rush hour - just put on head phones and move like everyone else, don't rush, calculate additional time so you don't have to.

Don't get me wrong, their system is far from perfect - it's just that among the alternatives I find it one of the better ones. The problem I have there is more with work culture and education, but there's hope for betterment lately at least for the former.