Conde Nast announced their annual Best Cities rankings for 2021 on October 5th. 

The survey was separated into two categories; big and small cities, each category with ten top spots.   

800,000 of the publication’s readers selected Tokyo as the world’s best big city, with Osaka as the second and Kyoto coming in at number three.  

In the big city category, Japan dominated the top three but no Japanese small cities made the top ten category at all. 

Tokyo and Osaka rose in the rankings with Kyoto falling two spots compared to their 2020 results.  Back then, Kyoto was number one, Tokyo was number six and Osaka failed to make the top ten entirely.

Judging a city’s appeal from only one survey could be misleading so looking around at other recent survey results, Japan and the nation's large cities fared as follows:

The Economist World’s Safest City 2021 - Tokyo (5th)

The Economist World’s Safest City 2019 / 2017 / 2015 - Tokyo (1st), Osaka (3rd)

Click here to see The Economist report.

Most Michelin Starred Restaurants 2021 - Tokyo (1st), Kyoto (3rd), Osaka (4th)

Click here to see the Conde Nast Michelin Star article. 

World’s Healthiest City 2021 - Tokyo (7th)

Click here to see the CEO Magazine report.

Top 20 Most Liveable Cities - Tokyo (5th), Kyoto (18th)

Click here to see press release of Monocle’s Quality of Life Survey

Cost of Living City Ranking 2021 - Tokyo (4th), Osaka (23rd), Nagoya (34th)

Click here to see the Mercer 2021 Cost of Living Report.

World’s Most Powerful Passports 2021 - Japan (1st, tied with Singapore)

Click here to see the Henley & Partners 2021 report