Well, before I try and quickly go over these questions, if there's one thing I've learned since coming to Japan, it's that this country has a hundred sides, I don't know what-agon that makes its, Hexagon and then Japan the Strangagon or something. Having said that, even though my observations may not be entirely correct, they are still mine, and so make them I will!
To try and quickly tackle one of the questions, "How is Tokyo like a village?" and I'd have to say that "Tokyo" is not a village. However, its parts are. These parts and "village" are based on the train system I believe. It is very much a culture of everything being built around the train stations, as that is how most people travel and as such, businesses and such pop up around them. Trains are what highways are in the US. It doesn't mean that there won't be shops if you go a bit away from the station, but they will definately drop off in number.
As to what is so village-like about this is the thinking that has sprung from this. It is almost as if some people think of trains as a type of magical vehicle that takes them incredible distances. I've talked with people who say they never walk between two train stations, even though the stations may be only 10 minutes walk apart, and it's 3 minutes on the train, with a 7 minute wait, and 3 minutes to get back out of the station.
This has led to sometimes Tokyo being split up into "Eki Villages", with people unable to cross between the two without the benefit of the magical train. I'll admit that sometimes it is freaking far, but people would be amazing if they just tried walking between two stations sometimes.
And if anyone doesn't believe that human powered devices can be faster than a train, try getting somewhere in Tokyo faster than Ken on his bicycle.
