What You Don't Know About Tokyo

I recently did a lesson where the students learned how to debunk myths about cities and tourist spots. “People think that… but…” So I asked them to come up with the top 3 things that people don’t know about Tokyo. What they said:
1 – Not all women wear kimonos
2 – Minors are not allowed to stay out past 10pm (a law that is not enforced in the slightest)
3 – Tokyo is NOT in fact, a concrete jungle (fooled me!). Apparently there are a lot of parks and green spaces. I actually saw some postcards that had a view of the skyscrapers from some park, but I’m not going to buy it until I can verify its existence.

I would like to add another one.
4 – When using the ATMs there is such a thing as ‘after hours’. Essentially, the ATMs close, and you cannot get money. My bank has online banking in English, which is great, but the worst ATM hours of any bank in Tokyo. This has caused problems on a number of occasions.

One Sunday night in Shinjuku I had just unknowingly spent my last thousand or so yen on magazines. I was ¥60 short to get on the train, so I went to an ATM. A few minutes past 9:00, most stores had just closed, but a few were open. I went to the first ATM and everything was fine – it took my card, took my password, and made noises like it was producing cash. It then spit my card out – but there was no money! I went to 3 ATMs and started freaking out that something was wrong with my account before I remembered that it was after hours. How did I get home? I asked a stranger for ¥60. It was definitely one of the more soul-withering moments I’ve had in Tokyo.