The financial centre trifecta I almost won

I’VE had the great privilege of living and working in two great cities, New York and London. And for a few tantalising months, a third seemed a possibility: Tokyo. That would have won me a kind of career trifecta: Residing in the three great financial centres of our age.

But it wasn’t to be. In late 2020, just after I’d gotten all the necessary visas, the Delta variant of Covid-19 surged. That led Japan to shut itself off from all new visitors and would-be residents, a prohibition that didn’t end till October 2022. So I reconciled myself to London – where I am now – and New York – where I keep an apartment – not bad places to call home.

I’ve since been to Japan’s capital twice for a couple of weeks each visit – and I’ve tried to imagine my unlived life in the world’s most populous metropolis. Here’s my personal scorecard for the cities, albeit an imbalanced one, given I lived four decades in New York, close to seven years in London and have only been in Tokyo for the equivalent of a month. Anyway, I think I’ve kept the sour grapes to a small squish.

If you can make it there...: Ambition should be made of the sternest stuff, and brashness is often born of battling for space. In raw numbers, Tokyo is the current title holder for the most populous city in the world. It succeeded New York in 1965, which held the distinction from 1925. Before that, London had been the world’s No 1 for a century. That said, New York City proper takes top honours for the sheer physical need to be pushy: Its population density of more than 29,000 people per square mile beats out Tokyo (around 16,600) and London (14,600). You’ve got to be bold to keep your head up in this sea of assertiveness – especially one as expensive as New York. I suspect many of the 350,000 millionaires who live there feel they are just getting by – and look jealously at the 110 billionaires who call Gotham home (Both of New York’s plutocrat stats are the highest in the world; Tokyo is in second place for millionaires; London, fourth after the Bay Area in California.) New Yorkers can be rude but they aren’t unkind – they like giving directions. Still, don’t waste their time or else they’ll tell you where to go. Aspirational point for NYC.

A bedroom of one’s own?: Earlier this year, I compared my accommodations in New York and London, giving a very slight edge to the latter. I’ve never had to pay rent in Tokyo, but I did stay in the Shibuya district at the home of friends who are roughly in my economic category. Their apartment also approximated my New York and London flats: two bedrooms in a lively area, close enough to stroll to even hipper precincts. It’s not an easy walk to work – almost an hour and a half, compared to my 40 minutes in New York and 10 minutes in London. But the subway is beautifully efficient. And the average rent is competitive with London – and cheaper than New York. At current exchange rates (which are favourable to Brits and Americans), a 700-square-foot apartment in Shibuya – in new construction designed to withstand major earthquakes – would be a little more than US$3,000.

You will have to buy furniture and appliances (including a fridge) when you move in. But the plumbing is amazing. I’d gladly acquiesce to a global monopoly by Japan’s innovative toilet company TOTO. Sanitation is supernal (compared to infernal in New York). It’s only slightly hyperbolic to say the public facilities in Tokyo could pass muster with New York’s cranky restaurant inspectors.

Major caveat: I did get far enough in my pre-Covid visa process to be aware of how difficult it is to qualify for a Tokyo apartment. The process is maddening enough in New York and London. In Japan, it is an excruciating chain of completely legal payoffs. Landlords in Tokyo will often not even consider foreign renters – and there is no law that says they have to. If you get past that, you’ll need to fork out a couple of months deposit to the owner plus perhaps a month more for the agent. Then there’s what’s called “key money”, which is like a tip to the landlord for being nice enough to allow you to live in the property. That’s another couple of months rent. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get any of this back, including the deposit.

Wait. You’ll need a guarantor. If you’re an expat, your company can usually fill this role. If not, the rental agent can do it for you – for a fee, of course. Maybe the equivalent of another month’s rent. I’m splitting the housing point between London and Tokyo.

Eating out: As much as I have beloved restaurants in New York and London, there is no contest here. You’d need more than 130 years if you dined each day at every one of the 48,000-plus restaurants in New York City. But Tokyo has more than 130,000. As for London, it’s at a very distant 20,000 registered restaurants, pubs and bars. In fact, there are so many eateries in the Japanese capital, it has its own 200-plus store kitchen-supply district, Kappabashi Street. It’s become a big draw for chefs not just from around the country but the world. I recently went on a brief shopping spree with a London restaurant owner who was in Tokyo. There may be even more Italian and Chinese restaurants in Tokyo than Japanese ones. A social media wag from China said that Japanese are certainly guilty of cultural appropriation, but it’s a good thing: Let them perfect the food and then we can steal it back! Culinary point for Tokyo.

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The weather: I am a refugee from humidity. I’ve fled it in the country of my birth – the Philippines. The summers in New York can be hellishly long. Tokyo? July was so hot this year that 120 people died of heatstroke. Scientists predict Japanese summers will grow longer and hotter. Indeed, cherry blossom season has been starting earlier each year because of the warmer temperatures. So, you see where I’m going: London. I’ll take the damp and the temperate summers over the prickling heat and sweltering humidity. Atmospheric point for London.

Soul: The UK capital is the oldest of the trio, founded just before 50 AD by Roman invaders. I adore the depth of history of London and how every street burbles with ghosts. Tokyo – originally called Edo – began in fits and starts but was firmly established as a power centre by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603. In comparison, New York was settled by the Dutch in 1624 as New Amsterdam, after finagling it from the native Lenape people. The English then took over and renamed it in 1664 for James, Duke of York, who would reign briefly as king before his Catholicism led to his overthrow by his Protestant daughter and son-in-law. But that’s not the kind of soul-searching I’m talking about here. Over 40 years in New York, I’ve fallen in and out of love, saw my career reboot more than once, lost friends to Aids and Covid, mourned when the Twin Towers came down. I may live in London – and who knows where else later in life – but my heart’s back in that concrete jungle, where dreams are made from. Point for passion to New York.

Every city – like a language – elicits a different you. I am different in New York from the person I am in London. And I will always wonder what Tokyo would have made of me. BLOOMBERG