Tokyo, the biggest city in the world, I found to be super clean and super safe with many courteous people.
For more detailed information see my: Tokyo, Japan Travel Guide
Things That I Found Surprising in Tokyo:
- You can do more than anticipated in one day. I thought I’d have to stay in the same area of the city all day, but I learned that it’s very quick, easy, and cheap to get to another part of the city via train.
- People walk on left side of sidewalks
- Cars drive on the left side of road
- Elevator go-ers stand on the left while people walk up/down on the right (a few exceptions)
- Taxis and Ubers open the back doors for passengers from their front seat
- Cars are courteous to pedestrians
- Bowing* is common (and fun)
- Accommodations are small (efficiently done)
- Everything is small except food servings (!)
- Napkins are scarce
- Everyone takes the train and it can get super crowded
- Trains are easy to navigate with Google Maps or Apple Maps
- Inside the train people are very quiet
- Streets are very clean
- Toilets all have lots of features – bidet, self-cleaning, noise machine, etc.
- Toilets are all different. Look for tornado looking icon for flushing.
- People are very polite.
- Tipping is not expected or encouraged
- Money is exchanged via a plate, not directly given to the cashier
- Vending machines are commonplace right on the side of the road