The Taylor Swift and Messi moment shows Tokyo is back

There was a brief moment around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday where, as Taylor Swift played to 55,000 screaming fans in the first performance of her four-night stint at Tokyo Dome, Lionel Messi took to the pitch just five kilometers away, at the Japan National Stadium.

This no doubt caused some envy in Hong Kong, which Swift skipped and Messi, infamously, sat out. The two global superstars appearing at the same time is a coincidence, but nonetheless symbolic of a shift in power in the region — one that has seen Tokyo go from overlooked outlier to, arguably, Asia’s most attractive destination.

The era of "Japan passing” seems at an end, and in the battle of financial hubs, heads are turning anew to a city that is enjoying a rare moment. All kinds of indicators are aligned in positivity, with the stock market on Thursday closing at yet another 34-year high and nearly two jobs for every person seeking employment. In contrast to other cities, offices are thriving post-COVID. Investors and influencers alike express surprise at the state of the metropolis, which stands in contrast to decades of doom-laden headlines on the moribund state of Japan’s economy.

This year will be the first full one of the country’s post-pandemic era, after the legal status of the virus was downgraded last May. The slow end to the pandemic in Japan attracted much criticism, but it has done little lasting damage, and a few years closed to visitors has made it clear what Tokyo has done — and continues to do — right.

The city has become something of a lightning rod for the debate over what we want urban areas to look like. One thing I frequently hear from visitors is expressions of surprise over how much just works the way it should. Grumblings about an overdependence on cash payments and lack of Wi-Fi have given way to an appreciation of trains being on time, reasonably priced, high-quality restaurants, and a lack of crime and homelessness.

Curiously, in the English-language discourse of the terminally online, Japanese cities attract praise for fulfilling many of the ideals of both the left (excellent public transport, no need for a car, cheap health care, plentiful and affordable housing) and the right (low tolerance for crime, cautious stance to mass immigration, strong support of the nuclear family).

That risks turning it into a Disneyland stereotype rather than reflecting the real and nuanced metropolis that it is. But it is hard to deny that the pendulum of public favor has swung very much toward Tokyo in recent years. Much of that is down to how Chinese authorities have dropped the ball, reducing the attractiveness of living either in Hong Kong (which expats have fled in droves) or the mainland.

That has coincided with a renewed appreciation of what Tokyo does well. Last year, I wrote about how, two decades ago, the city was seen as so unknowable that it became the perfect setting for "Lost in Translation," a movie in which Western protagonists bond over their shared culture shock. These days, there are so many tourists that this risks becoming a serious social problem.

The capital in particular is attracting visitors at a clip nearly 30% higher than pre-COVID; overall, tourists in Japan are spending 10% more than in 2019, despite fewer visitors overall. Tokyo, along with the other top-tier cities such as Osaka, is also becoming a more desirable place to live, with an influx of wealth from China and elsewhere in Asia that has helped push apartment prices up above bubble-era highs.

And one irony above all highlights what the capital has going for it: By next week, we will have forgotten Swift and Messi were here at all. In another city, their coincidental arrival might be the talk of the year, but in Tokyo it is just another day. Messi played to a half-empty stadium, with many blaming overly expensive tickets for the poor turnout. Attention will have already turned to the rich local sports offering, with the baseball and J. League soccer seasons set to start in the coming weeks.

Likewise, Swift is just one of dozens of big foreign artists returning to Japan, following last month’s seven-night run in Tokyo Dome by Bruno Mars, and the likes of Billy Joel, Ed Sheeran and Queen all lining up performances in the first two months of the year. They all, in turn, pale in comparison to the demand for domestic acts, far more popular these days than Western music.

I would wager some readers won’t have heard of Yoasobi, but you should have: The duo’s song "Idol" was not only Japan’s most listened-to tune of 2023, but the most Googled song of the year worldwide. They’re playing two nights at Tokyo Dome later this year and excitement for that might overshadow even Taylor. There aren’t too many places you can say that about.