Tokyo - the busiest city on earth?

So, I would still consider myself to be agoraphobic to some extent, it's just that unlike in my housebound days I now have better coping strategies. However, I was totally weirder out by my lack of terror in the busy city of Tokyo.

Visiting scramble crossing (where 3000 people are said to cross the road every minute), Tokyo station (said to be the busiest in the world), and the tiny crowded streets of Golden Gai I expected to be in tatters and was well braced for impact... but it never came. To a large extent I think the ethereal bubble created by my burst eardrum has helped as noise and sound are greatly reduced, also that I am actually fairly tall here and can see where I am going helped. However, Tokyo itself must claim some credit. Everything is so well organised and on time that no one seems in a rush, which is a relief in 35 degree heat where rushing is not really possible. The people were also so friendly to us that rather than commuters being irritated by being asked for directions by hopeless tourists they actually went beyond directions each time and took us where we needed to go - an experience I had never before encountered outside of Sheffield. This put me off asking, despite being in the process of reading Amanda Palmer's 'The Art of Asking'.

Tokyo is a city primarily of shopping and shrines - sometimes at the same time, which made me rather uncomfortable. After all, Jesus was the original Socialist.

Shrine fever sets in after about 3 so I was glad we didn't go to Kyoto! Then unless you want to break the bank on tourist attractions and theme parks Tokyo becomes pretty much a shopping Mecca. I am the first person to groan at this. However, shops in Tokyo can be surprisingly fun. We went to stationery shops across 8 floors, 100 yen shops (well, 108 with tax), the Bic Camera technology shop where several attendants tuck you into thousands of pounds worth of massage chair that they know you are never going to buy for a 20 minute rest. In Akihabara the geek shops, arcades and Manga stores are filled with places for photo ops, the bright lights of Shinjuku are like an electric theatre, and the fashion mad area of Harajuku makes installation art of clothing.
In short - 'shopping' as a past time actually seemed to have some merit.

We also visited the Edo Tokyo museum, some beautiful Japanese gardens and parks and an example of the fabled cat cafes.

Unfortunately navigating Tokyo makes no sense due to subway stations have 8 exits each and maps having random orientations so we couldn't fit as much in as we'd have liked. I would go back if I could.