Tokyo Japan

Tokyo (Greater Tokyo Area population: 37.4 million) is the world's most populous metropolitan area, yet somehow the most orderly, safe, and efficient large city on Earth. The Tokyo subway system (8 million passengers daily) is so punctual that a 25-second delay triggers a public apology. Despite its scale, Tokyo has a lower crime rate than most mid-sized American cities. Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world (over 200), a street food culture of extraordinary diversity (from ramen to kaiseki to yakitori), and neighborhoods of extreme contrast — Shibuya's neon chaos, Harajuku's fashion subcultures, Yanaka's preserved Edo-era streets. It was completely destroyed twice in the 20th century (1923 earthquake, WWII firebombing) and rebuilt each time into an extraordinary city.