It’s not misleading at all. The best part of Tokyo’s urban design are its mixed-used neighbourhoods and extensive public transport network. As you say, that makes it great for walking and cycling. In theory.

In practice, when combined with the high density, it means that people are spending a lot of time outside, unprotected, in very close proximity to the tailpipe emissions from large volumes (often 4 or 6-lanes) of gasoline and diesel-burning trucks and cars. Often with narrow sidewalks or no sidewalks at all. They shop along the main road, their kids’ school is on the main road, their workplaces, gyms, dry cleaners, station, etc.

Lol at the people in this thread chiming in from their 3rd floor balconies in Moto-Azabu Hills. The absolute vast majority of people living in Tokyo are breathing trash air day in day out.

It’s reprehensible. They need to ban diesel trucks immediately, and they need to actively encourage people to switch to EVs.

Is there some huge increase of cancer/emphysema/early death in Tokyo vs rural Japan? I never heard of it if that's true, and I'm pretty interested in Japanese culture and history along with that of China. I would imagine I would have come across such stats at some point if people in Tokyo were dropping like flies vs more pristine parts of Japan.

I’m completely uninterested in having that debate so will cede the floor to someone more knowledgeable and interested.

If you still think, in 2023, that humans can skate by with no consequences from relentless exposure to the by-products of fossil fuel combustion, I’d invite you to crack a book.

I agree with some of your points such as trucks should switch from ICE but this will happen, you see company trucks start to advertise that they are hybrid and the buses are being switch to hydrogen buses. But Tokyo is hardly an industrial hellscape. You’re kind of describing traffic right near a major station but usually a bike commute to a major station can mostly be done on side streets, and in many areas you can do your shopping in shotengais (pedestrian only shopping street). It’s funny you mention gyms and dry cleaners because there are thousands of these in Tokyo, and small neighborhood has one. Your nearest one is unlikely to be a major station unless you live right next door to one.

I actually like the no sidewalk small streets, they have no parking and while some are sketchy they are more often like a mixed use path where pedestrians clearly have the right of way.