Japan (2) - Tokyo

11 July 2010 - Tokyo is an ugly city, yet I really like it. I love the crowds and the urban feel - the energy and the vitality. People rush around and always seem to have a purpose, a destination in their daily life. Tokyo was almost completely destroyed twice in the 20th century. In 1923 a massive earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale (similar to the quake that destroyed Port-au-Prince earlier this year) destroyed more than a third of the city and claimed more than 100,000 lives. Disaster struck again at the end of WW II, when allied bombs laid more than 50% of the city in ruins, killing another 100,000 people. The city survived all of that, and has grown into a buzzing metropolis. It is also one of the safest cities on earth - so I really have to be careful not to be too careless and - standing almost two meters tall - I feel like walking around with a sign "tourist" around my neck. And we remember what happened to Gulliver when he visited the island of Lilliput....