City life

Japanese cities are organised around stations rather than squares: 駅前(えきまえ) is where the shops are, and the commute, 通勤(つうきん), shapes the day. Keep two words apart: 都会(とかい) is the city as a way of life, set against the countryside, while 都市(とし) is a city as a place on a map. And 下町(したまち) is not "downtown" in the American sense: it is the older, lower-lying part of town.