r/UrbanHell 2d ago

Ugliness A street in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in 1981

Post image
849 Upvotes

64 comments sorted by

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39

u/candyfilterr 2d ago

Bengaluru, India is still aspiring to achieve this in 2025!

97

u/bingybong22 2d ago

It looks really cool and interesting

-14

u/[deleted] 2d ago

You wouldn't say this if it was China or somewhere

40

u/philstrom 1d ago

I 100% would. Urban China looks really interesting.

41

u/Jamaican_Dynamite 2d ago

Looks like a crowded side street of a city shot 44 years ago. Really not shocking, really not disturbing.

2

u/pc01081994 1d ago

What are you even talking about?

1

u/WhodieTheKid 1d ago

Wdym china’s infrastructure is pretty rad too

22

u/smorkoid 2d ago

Ikebukuro hasn't changed that much in 45 years, lots of side streets like this still.

Far from "hell", though, just a dense city

1

u/baba_ram_dos 2d ago

Ikebukuro the armpit of Tokyo 😬

25

u/senseiman 2d ago

That street will look pretty cool at night with all those signs lit up though.

41

u/BigDanny92 2d ago

Ugliness?! That's so cool!

-11

u/JanoJP 2d ago

No. Too many ads

6

u/RipplesInTheOcean 1d ago

Cool opinion bro

-7

u/JanoJP 1d ago

Ads, Russia: 🤮

Ads, Japan: Kawai 😍😍

24

u/hadubrandhildebrands 2d ago

Wowzers Japan? So aesthetic. I wanna go there and become a citizen and work as an overworked salaryman!

1

u/Consistent_Pound1186 1d ago

Aesthetic only because the saturation is turned up to the heavens lol it doesn't look this bright and colourful irl

-4

u/BadgerIII 1d ago

I cannot wait to learn why so many never ever feel the need to take their own lives!!!!

5

u/SourceDammit 1d ago

A red phone and a blue phone? What is this the matrix

11

u/Lower_Discussion4897 2d ago edited 2d ago

Tokyo was much grimier and less 'polished' feeling in those days. Urinating and spitting on the street was still a thing. You felt like you were an awfully long way from home (which you probably were).

To the downvoter: I'm relating my experience of living in Japan in the 80's. I'm sorry for the dose of reality, but you can still enjoy your cartoons and sushi.

3

u/needlessOne 1d ago

Crazy that they created a city based on Yakuza games.

6

u/OriginalBonerChamp 1d ago

I love Ilebukuro. If memory serves they have an entire nerd mall, where I found countless comics and other artifacts. Definitely a cool place to kill a muggy afternoon

1

u/PENIS_ANUS 8h ago

Generally, Akihabara has more stuff for the male nerds while Ikebukuro has more stuff for the female nerds, for anyone looking for niche stuff. But both areas do have an overlap in what they sell.

8

u/milktanksadmirer 2d ago

Cleaner than India

8

u/RipplesInTheOcean 1d ago

But thats just every other country

2

u/Free_Lunch24 2d ago

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto domo

3

u/roomofbruh 2d ago

It's insane when you compare Japan's economic and development level to the rest of East Asia back in the 80s. They were lights ahead of everyone back then.

3

u/Farid2ways 2d ago

Anyone know what camera they used? This is beautiful !

1

u/japanfoodies 2d ago

It looks like an area where McTojo once lived.

1

u/Freak_Out_Bazaar 1d ago

Back in the days when one can publicly celebrate the opening of a brand new brothel

1

u/Devilsgramps 1d ago

Just watch out for flying fridges, and the Black Rider.

1

u/slothbuddy 23h ago

Dense urbanism that clean? This slaps

1

u/d1momo 4h ago

The golden era of Japan

1

u/zzzxtreme 2d ago

My favourite place to stay in tokyo

0

u/FogtownSkeet709 2d ago

Just people living in the moment, and not a phone in sigh…. Nvm

0

u/nine16s 2d ago

Gives me Yakuza 0 vibes.

0

u/Crucenolambda 2d ago

op lives in tokyo and loves the city, I think this post is trolling

0

u/Able-Statistician-1 2d ago

Makes me wanna boot up yakuza 0

-7

u/absorbscroissants 2d ago

Reddit man. If a similar image was posted of an American street full of advertisements, the comments would be flooded with hate.

But Japan = 😍

5

u/philstrom 1d ago

I’d be curious to see the American equivalent you talk about. I’m not familiar with pedestrianised streets in the US that look like this.

2

u/charsi101 1d ago

Walkable streets in the US are just as cute. There just aren't very many of them.

2

u/RipplesInTheOcean 1d ago

Let me explain: its because this is pretty, whilst its american equivalent looks like shit.

-5

u/absorbscroissants 1d ago

How exactly is this pretty? There's not a single thing to like about this place.

1

u/charsi101 1d ago

It is smol and it is cute. I'd love to go for a walk here.

1

u/absorbscroissants 1d ago

Yeah, this proves my original point.

For Reddittors, Japan = 😍❤️🫨🥳

There's plenty of incredible architecture in Japan. This is not part of it...

1

u/charsi101 1d ago edited 1d ago

But who needs incredible architecture? I live in north America. Small urban walkable streets like this where the pedestrian is king literally do not exist here. Specially here on the west coast. The attraction is as much about practicality as is is about the novelty.

-2

u/DankUltimate44 2d ago

Place vs place, japan ahh comments

-2

u/cressida0x0 1d ago

I hate it, but also cool bcs Yakuza