Village : Population 36,000,000

The image is : chaos, alienation, robotic utilitarianism. You stand on a overpass in Shinjuku, gazing over the neon facades ahead. You've just stumbled out of a honeycomb of an underground city of neon. The contradiction is : there is no one below. There are few who are above.

But it's different where you are from. The arcades of Koenji, Asagaya are filled with a vivifying buzz. Middle-aged mothers wearing black sun-blocking visors greet each other. Children play in the park. The underbelly of the Chuo-line glows in the evening, smoke rising from sticks of grilled chicken and frying balls of takoyaki. Beer flows freely and conversations flow with it. Up a staircase, and you're inside the power-less temple of no-good.

"Shibuya! I'm going to Shibuya," screams the performer, underneath a flurry of colourful decorations and photocopied pictures of cats. Inside the "Silent Park", rows of cars sit passively, waiting for their owners.