Tokyo: The City at the End of the World

Tokyo, 1985. The world's first megacity is at the height of its dynamism.

Forty years ago, a frenzy of creativity galvanised the Japanese capital. From fashion to movies to electronics, Tokyo was forging the future. Factories run by robots, the world's first high-speed trains, apartment blocks built from shipping containers, love hotels modelled on Bavarian castles...

In the thick of it, a young British teacher gazed around and asked questions. Why are Tokyoites so phlegmatic about earthquakes? What makes this high-tech city so unmistakably Japanese? And how, despite its size and pace, has Tokyo retained many pockets of perfect calm?

First published in 1985, Tokyo: the City at the End of the World was quickly recognised, in Time magazine, The New Yorker and elsewhere, as a fascinating portrait of the city that pointed where the world was headed. Forty years on numerous Asian cities have taken up Tokyo's baton, but Peter Popham's depiction of its menace and charm remains unrivalled.