But calling Tokyo just a "city" would be somewhat misleading. It functions quite like a mini state, with each of its wards being largely self contained and inde

But calling Tokyo just a "city" would be somewhat misleading. It functions quite like a mini state, with each of its wards being largely self contained and independent A classmate of mine who visited Amsterdam in the 80's described his experience like this: People seemed to hang out in different neighborhoods based on what "type" they appeared to be. The police might spot you being "out of place" and guide you back to where you were "supposed" to be. Essentially, they would do a friendly "deportation" of you to the right neighborhood. I think all cities have something like this going on, to one extent or another: subdivision into different sub-cities.