Thinking of moving to Tokyo? You’ll have a lot of options. The city of over 14 million people is a sprawling diverse place, with no corner of the city quite like the other. One annual survey attempts to whittle it down for you by asking people two questions: Are you happy with where you live? And do you want to keep living there? Here’s what they found in their 2024 report.
Daito Construction ran its 2024 survey in September, polling over 100,00 residents of Tokyo across its 23 metropolitan wards and outlying cities. They broke down the rankings into five categories:
- Happiness index (by municipality)
- Happiness index (by train station location)
- Desire to remain (by municipality)
- Desire to remain (by train station location)
Let’s take a look at what areas are the happiest and most likely to retain residents – and why.
Happiness index (municipality): Minato City
Perhaps surprising no one, Tokyo’s richest city – with a median income of 11.26 million yen (USD $71,969) – retained its number one ranking spot. Center to several luxury hotels, office buildings, and many of Tokyo’s embassies and consulates, Minato is known for ritzy areas such as Azabu (home of Sailor moon!), Shirokane, Takanawa, and Roppongi.
Minato is also known as an easy place to raise kids, with the city providing child-rearing allowances and a range of support services. On the down side, the existence of the somewhat-seedy Roppongi, a hotspot for Tokyo nightlife and home to many of the city’s high-end cabaret clubs, means Minato ranks fairly low on the safety index of Tokyo’s wards.
Coming in behind Minato were Chuo City (last year’s number one), Bunkyo City, Meguro, and Mitaka (home of the Studio Ghibli Museum).
Happiness index (train station): Daikanyama
Close to Minato City in next-door Shibuya is another well-off neighborhood, Daikanyama. Known for its fancy stores, greenery, and convenient access to downtown Shibuya, Daikanyama is also lauded as a safe neighborhood for living. On the downside, it’s a hard place to walk due to all of the hills, and there’s little parking.
Ariake A and Omotesando kept their second and third spots as train stations where people were most satisfied. Jumping into fourth place from ninth last year was Inagi Station in Inagi City, a city of approximately 95,000 located in West Tokyo. In fifth place, up from eighth, was Roppongi 1-Chome, famous for its combination of high-end shopping and easy rail access to just about anywhere in Tokyo.
Desire to remain (municipality): Musashino
People looooove Musashino. The home of beloved neighborhood Kichijoji and the gorgeous Inokashira Park, Musashino boasts great local shopping, a ton of little cafes, a great music and arts scene, and a bevy of antique and vintage clothing stores. For many, Musashino is the perfect combination of cleanliness, safety, and subculture in Tokyo.
Located in West Tokyo, Musashino is a bit distant from the downtown core. However, express trains can get you to Shibuya or Shinjuku in about 15 minutes flat. The downside is that it’s a very popular area for locals and tourists alike, so getting out on the weekends can be a nightmare.
The other top entries this year remained relatively unchanged: Meguro, Chuo, Bunkyo, and Minato. The only change from the previous year was that Chuo and Bunkyo swapped places.
Desire to remain (train station): Daikanyama
Daikanyama retained its top spot as an easy-to-live train station – which I find interesting given that Minato only had one train station (Roppongi 1-Chome) rank in the top five. (Minato’s only other top 10 finisher was the ritzy neighborhood around Shirokanedai Station.)
One of the main benefits of Daikanyama Station is its immediate proximity to Shibuya Station – a three-minute ride. But you can also get to other major stations in the city easily, including Nakameguro, Daen-chofu, Musashino-koyama, and even Yokohama without transferring trains. Of course, easy access to Shibuya means you can transfer to the Yamanote line and go to many major destinations across central and East Tokyo.
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