#1 – Tokyo-Yokohama: population of 38,050,000; area of 8,547 square kilometers, population density of 4,500 people/square kilometer
#2 – Jakarta: population of 32,275,000; area of 3,302 square kilometers, population density of 9,800 people/square kilometer
#3 - Delhi: population of 27,280,000; area of 2,202 square kilometers, population density of 12,400 people/square kilometer
#4 – Manila: population of 24,650,000; area of 1,813 square kilometers, population density of 13,600 people/square kilometer
#5 – Seoul-Incheon: population of 24,210,000; area of 2,745 square kilometers, population density of 8,800 people/square kilometer

Globally, Japan only lands on rank 62 in regard to area but climbs to rank 11 when it comes to population. According to the US website Demographia that conducts yearly surveys on “urban area population,” a category that does not only look at cities but also at their nearby suburbs, Tokyo has the world’s highest with 38 million people. Since Japan’s total population is about 127 million, this is an incredible number as more than 30% of the entire population lives in the Tokyo and Yokohama area. There’s a plethora of entertainment facilities, restaurants, shops, and leisure facilities found not only in central Tokyo but the greater area, making one of the most important cities for both gourmet experiences and sightseeing.

Source: Demographia

In Japan, you’ll see vending machines at every street corner. As of 2015, there are 5,001,700 machines installed throughout the country. Of that number, 51% of machines (2,548,700) are soft drink vending machines.

Comparing that to around the globe, we’ll find that there are no official statistics for Europe, but according to the estimates by EVA (European Vending Association), the number sees to be somewhere between 3,800,000 and 3,900,000 for food and drink vending machines and roughly 400,000 tobacco machines. In China, they are often found in subway stations or inside offices and factories in big cities, with an estimate of 130,000 to 140,000 in total.

Incidentally, a study conducted outside of Japan shows that only the US has more vending machines with a total number of 6,450,900. That’s the highest in the entire world!

However, the annual sales in the US reach 47.7 billion dollars, which is about 4 trillion yen. That’s about 1.2 trillion less than in Japan. On top of that, the United States’ area is 26 times larger than that of Japan while the population is also 2.57 times bigger. Taking these factors into account, it’s clear that Japan most likely has the highest rate of vending machines in the world.

In the rest of the world, you’ll find vending machines usually on station premises, at schools, offices, supermarkets, sightseeing spots, and so on. In Japan, however, they are also found just in the middle of a street in both downtown areas and residential neighborhoods. If you’re thirsty, the next machine is just around the corner, no matter where you are.

One main characteristic of Japanese vending machines is that they offer both cold and hot drinks in the same machine. The selection ranges from carbonated soft drinks to water, tea, juice, coffee, tea, and even soup. There’s also a lineup that’s unique to Japan, with hot pot and sweet red bean soup being available at the push of a button. There’s also a selection of unique vending machines selling bread, fresh fruit, cup noodles, and ice cream, and there doesn’t seem to be a country that utilizes vending machines as diversely, efficiently, and convenient as Japan does. Be sure to try it for yourself the next time you’re in Japan!

Source: Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association

Shinjuku Station is said to see about 3.5 million passengers come and go every day on average, making it the world’s busiest station. Even Japanese people who come to the station for the first time are taken aback by the sheer number of people rushing about, with people wrongly thinking that there’s some kind of festival or rally going on. In 2011, Shinjuku Station was officially registered in the Guinness Book as the station with the most passengers per day.

However, Shinjuku Station isn’t Tokyo’s only station on that massive scale. Shibuya Station also has about 3 million people per day on average, and Ikebukuro Station follows with 2.5 million. Each of them is a major terminal station representative of Tokyo, even if they’re not as large as Shinjuku Station.

Compared to large-scale stations around the world, the average number of passengers of the Taipei Metro in Taiwan is about 540,000 per day, while Italy’s Roma Termini Station sees 480,000 people each day on average. That is about one-seventh of Shinjuku Station’s passengers. The busiest station outside of Japan is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station (registered as a World Heritage Site) with about 3 million people.

As Tokyo is the world’s most populous city, it may be natural that its stations are this crowded. There are several massive stations such as Shinjuku Station, Shibuya Station, Ikebukuro Station, and so on, with giant station premises, numerous transit options and ticket gates, and a plethora of exists – those stations are complicated. If you travel around Tokyo, it is important to look at maps and signs as to not get lost. Phone apps also help with the navigation!

Tokyo is known as an urban jungle with numerous skyscrapers and tall buildings. Among them is Tokyo Tower in Oshima (Sumida Ward in Tokyo), which was registered as the world’s tallest tower in the Guinness Book of 2011. It is 635 meters high, beating the previous record holder Canton Tower in China, which stands at 600 meters tall.

Tokyo Skytree opened in May 2012. It’s the world’s prime free-standing broadcasting tower that also acts as a sightseeing spot with observation platforms and commercial facilities. At its foot, you’ll find the shopping mall Solamachi that features more than 300 restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops, alongside an aquarium and a planetarium. One of the two observation platforms is at a height of 350 meters and is called “Tokyo Skytree Tembo Deck,” featuring 5-meter high glass windows that offer a 360-degree panoramic view. The other observation spot is at 450 meters and named “Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria.” It has a glass corridor that will make you feel like you’re walking through the air!

At night, Tokyo Skytree is beautifully lit up and a stunning sight from major tourist areas such as Ueno and Asakusa, creating fascinating scenery. The tall tower has become one of Tokyo’s prime symbols.

Manga – Japanese comics – are known throughout the world and have become a big factor in global pop culture. Numerous series are widely available all over the world, with ONE PIECE being one of the most prominent. The series has appeared in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997 and is massively popular both in Japan and around the globe. The manga by Eiichiro Oda boasts the world’s largest number of issued copies for a comic by a single author, officially registered in the Guinness Book.

In total, ONE PIECE has reached the astounding number of 320,866,000 issued copies as of 2015. It still appears weekly in the magazine and new manga volumes continue to be issued. In September 2018, 90 volumes were released in Japan alone, making it unlikely that this world record will be broken in the near future!

Did you know that the shortest station name can be found in Japan? It’s “Tsu,” and one of the major terminal stations in Mie’s Tsu City, connecting JR lines and various private railway lines. In Japanese, the station name is but a single character. When the city eyed the title for the shortest station both in Japan and worldwide, it was further abbreviated and simply became “Z” in the Latin alphabet and an application was made to Guinness as the world’s shortest station name. However, that isn’t even a category yet, so there has no been official certification thus far. Nonetheless, Tsu is also the world’s shortest place name!

The shortest escalator in the world can be found in Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture. It has only 5 steps and takes merely 5 seconds to get you to the “top.” The height difference is 83.4 cm, which got it a registration in the Guinness Book as the world’s shortest escalator. It was constructed in October 1989 to connect the commercial building “MORES” near the station to an underground shopping district. However, after the construction started, it was found that there is a thick beam right under the floor, which is said to be the reason why the escalator ended up being this short.
By the way, there was a call to give a nickname to the escalator appealing its tiny size and there were about 1,500 entries. The winner is a combination of the words “petit” and “escalator:” Peticalator.

Everyone knows Super Mario, everyone knows Nintendo, Japan’s oldest game company. In 1983, it created the “Family Computer” console that most people in the West simply known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), followed by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1985, a major global hit. After this massive success, Nintendo spoiled gamers around the globe with the GameBoy, the Nintendo 64, the GameCube, DS, and the Nintendo Switch, the company’s latest console.

Nintendo also holds the record for the most-sold game on a single platform: Wii Sports for the Nintendo Wii. It features sports games such as golf, tennis, baseball, and bowling. In Europe and the United States, the Wii console came as a bundle with Wii Sports, which likely had a major influence on the sky-high sales numbers of over 85 million copies!

Japan’s long life expectancy is a known fact all around the world. In fact, the average life expectancy of men and women is almost the same every year. The WHO put Japanese men in the second place with an average of 81.2 years and Japanese women in the first place with 87.1 years in 2018, using data from 2016. The combined average life expectancy is 84.2, earning the first place as well!

Looking at the top three for men, Switzerland comes in second with 81.2 years, followed by Australia with 81 years. For women, second place goes to France with 85.7 and Spain comes in third also with 85.7. In comparison, the average life expectancy of Japanese women is outstanding! The average for both genders is 83.3 years in Switzerland, taking second place, and 83.1 years in Spain in the third place.

The factors for this long life expectancy are believed to be the eating habits that feature many soy products, fermented foods, and fish, as well as the ever-improving medical system.

November 2007 saw Asia’s first “Michelin Guide Tokyo 2008.” Ever since then, Japan is the country with the most restaurants that have Michelin stars. The 2015 edition, for example, features 226 Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo. In contrast, Paris has 94 and New York boasts 76. The restaurants with the most starts are long-established shops that offer Japanese cuisine. Besides, sushi restaurants, fugu (pufferfish) specialty stores, and French restaurants are also plentifully represented.

Tokyo, the world’s most populous city, boasts a huge number of convenient vending machines, and Japan has managed to spread the subculture of manga and anime throughout the world, is a paradise of gourmet experiences, and prides itself on the world’s longest life expectancies. While some of those records are known far and wide, who would have known that the country is also home to the shortest escalator or station name? It’s certain that there’s much to discover all around Japan, from little surprises to astonishing facts!