Critics argue that these trends erode Tokyo’s “centrality” – the magnetic pull that once made it a one‑city‑dominant metropolis.
The Post-Pandemic Void: The pandemic broke the "salaryman" spell. The necessity of physical presence in crowded office towers vanished, leading to a rise in digital nomadism and a "return to the countryside" movement among younger Japanese. The Reality: A Metropolis Reimagined is tokyo dead
Simultaneously, Tokyo’s cultural exports have migrated onto screens: the impact accelerated:
Even before the pandemic, Tokyo’s office market faced pressure from “telecommuting‑first” policies championed by tech giants. Post‑COVID, the impact accelerated: is tokyo dead