Tokyo “Most Beautiful City in Asia”
- Categories: Japan, News
- Date: Jan 31, 2010 22:01 JST
- Tags: Buildings, Comparison, Mass Media, Rankings, Tokyo
Top business rag Forbes has compiled a list of what its urban connoisseurs consider the most beautiful cities in the world, and whilst the “City of Light” occupying the top spot will come as no surprise, its disdain for the cities of Asia might – only Tokyo features, scraping in last as an afterthought, but still holding the laurels for being the best of Asia.
1. Paris, France
2. Vancouver, Canada
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Florence, Italy
5. Venice, Italy
6. Cape Town, South Africa
7. San Francisco, USA
8. Chicago, USA
9. New York, USA
10. London, UK
11. Cambridge, UK
12. Tokyo, Japan
The likes of Hong Kong, Kyoto or Singapore evidently don’t get so much as a look in.
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Wtf?! That isn't London! It doesn't have grey concrete or CCTV cameras in plain sight. It's not London.
Surprised but pleased to see Cape Town there. It really is a lovely city, probably the only nice one in Africa.
I've only been to 2 cities listed (8.Chicago, 9.New York) . But I know the list is invalid because Chicago is there.
I agree, I'd put Kyoto or Nara over Tokyo for cities in Japan. Never visited Hokkaido, maybe Hakodate or Sapporo is better?
As for US, I can't see Chicago or New York being "beautiful". SF, sure. I'd also pimp Boulder, CO as a very beautiful place (right near the Rocky Mountains), although it might be too small to qualify and Denver is pretty but too far from the mountains to beat a lot of other cities. And what about S. American cities like Rio or Buenos Aires? Never been there, are they not nice enough to count?
Don't really agree with London, although I've only been there once. Seems like other European cities have cooler architecture and more picturesque surroundings.
Can't argue with Italy, though. Nor Cape Town. Damn, it looks amazing.
Hong Kong is definitely the most beautiful city in Asia. The view from Victoria Peak at night is absolutely stunning. Honestly, what the hell was Forbes thinking? Tokyo just doesn't compare to it.
Tôkyô may be 12th most beautiful, but it's still beautiful!
Sydney? Where those retards judging by brochures and travel guides picked up at their local bookstore?
My carrier stop there and I gave the city a "walkabout" and it looks like.. any other city with nasty ass alleys, bums digging thru garbage cans on the Main Street! An amazing lack of any form of traffic on the streets, like I was back in Moscow in the '80s again. Completely Empty of people on the streets and this was on a FRIDAY! Old buildings where rare to find, and a lot of empty stores too. One looked like it had just shut down. Every watch 'I am Legend'? The amount of lurkers equaled about how many people I saw on that FRIDAY in downtown Sydney!
"Beautiful Desolation" be more apropos. Watched 'Initial D' the live action movie there and enjoyed that at least.
When on earth did you come to Sydney and where did you go? I've lived here for three years now (in the CBD) and have never ever seen the streets deserted. Though I won't contest the bums part, it is a shame that homelessness seems to be such an issue here :/
I love Tokyo for its energy, but beauty? Sorry, no. You can't just show the Imperial Palace and say, "This is a beautiful city!"
Every city has bad and good areas (except Detroit and maybe Beirut) but it's the balance that matters.
With that criteria in mind, one of the most beautiful cities I've visited was Belfast!
I'm from Vancouver and I gotta say...
...seriously? We got 2nd? Is something wrong with these guys?
Since when the hell is CHICAGO on the list? that place is a shit hole man. And 3 US cities? That can't be right..
It's so obvious, they rank Vancouver the second because of winter Olympic game in order to attract appeal more foreigners.
Being from the UK im wondering why anywhere from the UK is actually in there. I mean maybe that 1 location in cambridge while the sun is shining and there are a few boats in the river, then just maybe.
I've been to paris, its nice to look at but i've also been to Florence and that it a mile above Paris.
I see the folks in Forbes have been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed II lately to place Florence and Venice so high up the list, no? ;)
Not that I'm complaining, as having visited both cities, I do agree they are wonderful places to visit. So no offense intended to any Italian anons out there. :)
But no Rome? And how did Vancouver get so high as to ride above other more historical cities?
Paris? Ummm, what? Paris is only attractive to people who have never been there before. Enjoy stepping in dog shit. I don't think Tokyo is that great of a city, but at least it's clean. It's probably the cleanest major city that I've been to. I'd rank Kyoto above it though.
Like others who are Canadian here, I am wondering why in the hell Vancouver made no. 2. Nice city but no. 2? The hell?
San Francisco has pretty parts, but even as a tourist I've ended up in the ugly ones without even trying, so um.
it's because Union Square (major shopping area) is a few blocks away from the Tenderloin
I imagine tourists don't even know that the Tenderloin is right there and that you shouldn't go in that area at night
lulz
I LIVE in Chicago, and this place is pretty trashy. The suburbs are nice, the city is trash.
For Hong Kong, it's a nice city and clean for Chinese standards, but I wouldn't place it in the one of the top cities in the world. High on the list, but not top 10.
you must end up in the west side all the time.
I've seen all these cities and I can tell you; they got as must slums if you look around.
What makes these American cities on the list is that if you look around they service almost anything you want. And the laws are generally accepted through out the world. If you rape someone YOU get punished and not the raped pregnant woman.
I've never been to Paris before, but my friends said the people there are so cocky and the streets are so dirty. Unless you speak their language...
I think what makes a place really beautiful is that do u feel welcoming.
What about Vienna, the city of classical music and the most livable city in the world?
Agreed, the most beautiful cities in Europe are Paris, Vienna, St Petersbourg and Rome.
I'm french but i still think this list is weird.
And London was beautiful (even stunning i should say) in the Victorian era, nowadays the beauty of this city has been ruined, it doesn't deserve to be in this list.
vancouver gets these awards for its mountain and water nothing out of the ordinary. For those that are surprised should see the top 10 lists vancouver always get in.
Barcelona? Istanbul? Prague? Budapest? Singapore? All worth a place on the list. Tokyo isn't actually all that beautiful either, having been there 2 weeks ago, but this list is questionable.
I think,rather than a list of the most beautiful cities, this is just simply a list of the most well known or popular cities.
Cambridge?
Bleh...
Surprised that Hong Kong is not on the list.
Whoever voted Paris onto that list has clearly never been there. Only seen tourist post cards or something.
1. I live in Chicago. Chicago is a good city, and not a shithole. I grew up in and LIVE in the South Side all my life. Those who say Chicago fucking sucks need to go to other parts of the city. Near West Side, North Side, Near South Side, etc. Fuck, the "ghetto" looks pretty cool and old-school.
Lulz @ San Francisco > Tokyo. xD
San Francisco is highly ranked? Are you fucking shitting me? That's one of the ugliest, grimiest cities in the world, and it's full of faggots and homeless everywhere you look.
Tokyo is hideous. Finding the one nice looking place to photograph doesn't make it a nice city.
Vancouver is being underrated here, it's quite a beautiful city.
I agree that Hong Kong shouldn't be on the list. It's an example of awful urban planning where cars matter more than people. There is little to no communication between urban renewal, roadworks and land planning, so development goes to the highest bidder, megamalls and 80-floor apartment complexes are eating away at everything, and trees and grass are an afterthought. Let's not forget the pollution, both coming from cars and flowing in from China. I love living here, it's my home, but there's a reason I take a yearly trip to Japan.
To go to Akiba.
Woo!
I live in cambridge.
great list, I need to visit some of those places.
http://www.paris-26-gigapixels.com/index-en.html
My city \o/. Not perfect, but a great city.
Couldn't care less about the snobs. Many cities not on the list have their very unique charms.
Chicago. Really.
I know this list is pointless, simply because I know of all the cities on it. Any such list which was remotely serious I'd expect to be dominated by small continental 'hidden treasure' cities which most people wouldn't recognise, save perhaps from the name of a football team.
dude when i first saw cambridge i thought it was cambridge, mass and i was like "nuh uh" cuz it's kinda ugly here no offense.
Yay, Cape Town!
The thing is many cites look beautiful from a distance and when you just see the clean parts.
But if you get off the beaten path be prepared to be disappointed and none are very pretty during rush hour.
How did Venice not take the top spot of "Most beautiful," that in my opinion is a mistake or some kind.
I'm kind of disappointed in the lack of Berlin, I found that city to be quite amazing when I visited it.
Big time BS list.
Having lived in Germany for most of my life, I would say, no list is complete without at least 1 GERMAN City.
woot australia 3rd!!
for the pic of tokyo, those stonecliff awfully resembles the one i saw a white man scaling it while being chased. hm.
Vancouver is second eh... I don't know, things seem pretty average here. Too much rain if anything. I'd think Venice or Florence would be it here any day but maybe that's just foreign wonder. What I don't get even more is how New York can be considered beautiful. Just looks like a massive a massive Lego piece set with so many blocks sticking out.
I really can't agree with this list.
Any major city (read: overpopulated) can't be considered beautiful in my list.
What were their criteria? Based on the number of city lights per square block, as seen from their posh hotel rooms??
Yay! No Metro Manila!!!
Manila was dubbed as the "Queen of the Pacific" about 80 years ago, but apparently lost its title to other beautiful Asian cities like Singapore, Hongkong and Tokyo decades later.
Thanks to mismanagement, corruption and overpopulation, Manila had turned itself into a one complete shit hole. It's streets, which is used to be compared with those of Paris, is now populated by primitive savages. Manila Bay was clear and pristine back then, but now it had became a giant septic tank. The stench of garbage, human excrement and urine reeks everywhere. Having mugged by savages is an everyday experience. :-/
FAILippines, fuck yeah. I hope someone drops the nuke on the city. I'm already devising plans to get the fuck out of this Third World cesspool and then migrate to the most beautiful city in Asia: Tokyo.
Your comments about Manila remind me of Saigon.
well metro manila is something need correction its suppose to be manila only lol and yes its quite safe to assume the we filipinos are still in hell hole status
Chicagoan here.
Chicago is an incredibly ugly and disgusting city. Yes, Downtown/The Loop is nice and Michigan Avenue as well, but the rest of it is really terrible.
Take a trip with CTA and you'll see the real Chicago. It looks like a bunch of slums and rust.
Been to the North Side or Near-South Side? There's a lot more to Chicago than "shithole"
Yes to:
Tokyo
San Francisco
Paris
No to:
All the others
Are you serious, both San Francisco and Chicago fucking suck. And Paris is just.. dirty..
There are many more small cities beautiful than the ones in the list
No one is commenting on the most obvious, Paris in 1st place....
Paris is an absolute shit hole, The guys who decided on this list are either Biased or have never stepped foot in Paris.
You're the shit hole, and a poor little liar.
I have been to Paris and can MOST definitely agree that it shouldn't be on the list. Neither should Chicago or Vancouver.
Paris is a dirty, crime ridden, expensive city populated by the rudest of people. My favorite part of Paris was the train ride to Barcelona.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome
Where is Prague and Tokyo isn't the most beautiful city in Japan. I don't agree with several of the others either.
Someday, Manila, Philippines would probably enter the list of these cities...
IN HELL.
those who says London shouldnt be in the list is a fool, have u ever been outside the UK? every cities have there + and - side. london has alot of history and many old buildings which i find some newer cities lack. i prefer hong kong over tokyo but i dont get a sense of history or culture when i am there, abit like tokyo cuz everything is so new. i would say kyoto and not tokyo should be in the list
Kyoto, Nara and - Hakodate!
hongkong suppose be in because pollution now is make the night look baad
As a fellow Hungarian, I think Budapest is a beautiful, well deserving place in the list.
not too sure about that...
I'm not saying it's bad, but top 10?
guess it's still a matter of opinion...
[another hungarian]
You are right to name Budapest. It is very beautiful indeed, seen from the hills over River Donau!
Where is the fucking Vatican? No German cities? Dubai? New York and Chicago definitely don't deserve to be on that list.
yes i do agree about dubai its really an interesting city or perhaps the ones who created the list is afraid of the city's customs/traditions lol
Dubai is nowhere near beautiful. After their oil runs out, Dubai will be a ghost town.
what did Dubai do to you? seriously!!!
None of these cities deserve to be in the list. This list is purely based on the hypertouristic hubs of said cities. If you concider working the banlieu (meaning the areas surrounding the touristic center) of any of these cities into the equation they wouldn't even get near top 100.
Why Tokyo? Kyoto is much, much better.
Because Forbes is a business magazine and not much business happens in Kyoto, internationally speaking.
Why is Sydney there? I have lived there and the only thing of note is the Sydney Opera house, and other than that, pretty much standard city fare.
Before any Sydneysiders try to jump on me, I am not saying it is ugly or even bad, just unspectacular.
Sadly enough, these cities are Hollywood's most favourite targets to terrorize with their over the top CGI when it comes to disaster movies..
As a London resident, the fact that London is even on a list of "most beautiful" cities shows that this list is entirely worthless.
Keep in mind that because you live there, you are use to your surroundings/don't care anymore. Of course, your right.
I am assuming the list masters never really visited the cities, just threw something together to fill space in the magazine.
Europe's fine by me. If you're looking for culturally rich places to live in.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the field...
Sydney? beautiful? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I live in Sydney and find it quite spectacular. Keep in mind these lists probably only take into consideration the CBD and inner areas not out to the western suburbs and the like.
Living in Sydney myself, it is an ok view. But I believe the sights are more astonishing in Queensland.
Where is the ugliest?
I guess it should be in China
Helsinki is The Ugliest.
China the ugliest?
the place itself is beautifl,the only thing wrong with china are the people living on it.
Fyi,Beijing is one of the most beautiful city in asia.
Wow are you serious? Way to insult a whole country of people, you ignorant assclown.
China have the potential of looking the best and the worst. Refer to China's manufacturing districts and the places that surround it.
Not to mention the slum areas of cities which they took so much effort to destroy and displace people before the Olympics took place.
I recently visited Mt. Hua and had the entire experience ruined by smog so pervasive, the only decent days are the days that rain.
There seems to be a lot of hatred towards China in this website, or is it just me? hmm
Well there are nice cities in China for sure. Ugliest would not be in China by far. There are war torn places in Africa, Middle-east that you are glad you are not there.
China's natural scenery is better than any cities though.
They probably visited the cities on a smoggy day, which is nearly every day there. And from friends that visited China, the smog can be so thick at times you can put your hand in front of your face and not see it.
Which city did you visit exactly? I've been to China 5 times now and i've never experienced smog that bad. I'd think that London's fog is worse. Shanghai is easily one of the better cities in Asia, if not actually beautiful.
china's a city now?
No way, Shanghai is beautiful. The areas outside the city areas where all the manufacturing takes place definitely are tourist worthy of course.
I mean, "are not tourist worthy".
no, you were right the first time ^^
I will go there soon...
My 1st destination of course ---> Akiba
yes... in order to become true men we must at least once in our lives make the pilgrimage to the holy land... Akihabara...
This list sure makes the world look pretty fucking dismal.
Paris does deserve a spot in the top three but VANCOUVER in SECOND!? San Francisco!? Chicago!?
What the hell are these people on?
I second that. Also I don't think Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. -.-
I third that. Some places up there shouldn't be there, and Japan deserve better.
I would put Venice at the top, but that is just my preference.
Yeah, the list is a bit old-fashioned, San Francisco (I traveled there, now I live very close to it) isn't as great of a city anymore both from a tourist point of view and from a resident's point of view.
I am surprised Hong Kong isn't on there, since despite the bad environment and air, it's one of the most internationally visited cities
Every major city has areas where you have to be on your toes in.
Jeez. I'm from right near Chicago. I don't think anywhere that has neighborhoods you have to worry about being shot in should be on the list. :/ Chicago isn't even that pretty. (I don't know about the other cities though cuz I haven't been to them).
Every city has its bad parts... Hong Kong has a crazy ghetto; crazier than Chicago's.
Chicago in the summer is AWESOME. I've been to all the cities on the list. And its pretty accurate. You guys gotta go and go to the best possible spot; then you'll understand why this list is why it is.
Bad air will definately knock you down this list. Who wants to heave throughout touring?
Venice is PEE, all PEEEE!
And anyone who lives in Australia knows that Sydney is the most polluted and dirty city in the country, big deal if it has the harbour bridge and opera house. Sydney was nice about 20yrs ago, but not these days! (they cleaned it up briefly for the 2000 olympics too) That's why most Australians have abandoned Sydney and allowed people from other countries to take over. And Brisbane was nice, until some looney went and constructed possibly the ugliest and most stupidly named bridge IN THE WORLD- http://www.arplus.com/8389/kurilpa-bridge-brisbane-by-cox-rayner-arup/
Paris! The most beautiful city of the World! The Effel Tower! The Arc of Triumph! Eglise of Notre Dame! The Champs Elisée! Areas Pigale & Chatelet! French pubs!
But about San Francisco & Chigago are overrated.
Chicago is an amazing city and Vancouver is beautiful year round. London is an adventure and very easy to travel. I've yet to be impressed by San Fran but I know a lot of people who love the place.
I would say Kyoto should be mentioned, but it doesn't seem to fit with the heavily Urbanized requirement of the list. While I agree there are plenty of nice Asian cities that should be included, this list is not a bad one (Though everything I hear, Venice smells really bad and is sinking so...)
lol?
that's why they decided to hold Olympics here, becuz everyone else but u is wrong.
enjoy your welfare while you can.
Vancouver will be a shithole after the olympics
because no trip to japan is complete without a trip to the otaku capital!
Amen to that.
lol weeaboo.
Tokyo's overrated; enjoy your overpriced everything while the more savvy tourists go to Osaka.
Dunno where you are coming from. Both places are pretty similar in pricing since they are both major metropolitan areas. If you want cheaper stuff, go out to the sticks where I lived for 2 years.
overall japan is expensive, but osaka is still cheaper than tokyo, and believe it or not, kyoto has the most expensive food out of the three cities listed
Bah 12:34 was in response to the drivel not the good anon.
When I was in Tokyo you could get a decent meal from the grocery store for about $2 a head. Learn to shop.
You can also make a free meal from taking food samples at the basement of the department stores, if you have good timing you can get a lot.
Forbes made a typo there.
I think they misspelled "Asia". It should be "World"
Artefact, help with the correction if you please! =D
What a weaboo thing to say.
And what a killjoy you are.
Some have dreams, while others...well...can stare at the monitor for all I care =D
Actually, I have to say I kind of agree with kindless. What a weaboo thing to say.
go jump off a cliff so you can be reborn as a pathetic eleven then.