Tokyo, Japan!
I chose Tokyo, Japan, because after a visit to the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C. when I was in high school, I have always been interested in learning about how advanced their technology is. On top of that, I wanted to see how much more useful their technology is compared to here in the United States.
Population
According to the World Population Review, Tokyo’s population is estimated at 37.03 million as of 2025. However, the number of residents has decreased by 0.21% in recent years.
Demographics
Tokyo is known to be a commuter city, meaning that no one lives there and only goes there to work. The majority of people there are Japanese, however, some foreigners do live there for work.
Languages Spoken
Japanese is the main language spoken. English is also spoken, but only in the tourist areas and by the younger generations.
Climate
Humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cool and dry. Typhoons are occasional during late summer and early autumn.
Technology Usage and Culture
Tokyo is a place of research and development, with companies and institutions like Sony, Toyota, and Panasonic being some of the largest to develop their products there. Because of this, Tokyo has a high internet usage and culture. Many companies come to start up their new products, and if anything, Tokyo supports it all because it is so well known for the technology that comes and goes from there, robot waiters, for example. Other things like AI and other electronics are leading innovations in Tokyo.
Location’s Digital Divide
Most of the divide comes from the younger and older generations. Like many other places, the younger generation is currently growing up with the newer technology, while the older generation fails to understand it or wants to learn about it. This could also be due to the lack of income or education levels, as schools are advancing to a more digital style of learning. And while most places in Tokyo have high internet access, there are still areas that face challenges in getting some access.
Lessons Learned
Though I did this project without a partner, it was still fun to do alone! Thinking of this assignment, I thought it would be easy to look into the technology portion of Japan. However, Japan has so much technology that it looks like they are living in the year 3000. And that is one of the reasons I became interested in researching Tokyo. But there was so much to look into that I did not realize it. And it was hard to stay on track and not get carried away and dive into other topics that were not this one. One thing that did influence me was all the manga and anime I would watch. They had a helping hand in understanding the technology and the digital divide. One anime would be full of this high-end technology that we would see years from now, almost futuristic, and then the next anime would be in a rural area with little to no technology. But overall, I loved learning about the technology and the digital divide in Tokyo.