The protagonist of Dai-Tokyo is Kōsuke, a college graduate who decides to live a simple "no frills" lifestyle on little money in the Greater Tokyo Area. He has no full-time employment, and instead works only part-time jobs and does chores around the neighborhood in exchange for goods and services. He spends his free time enjoying life's simple pleasures, reading, conversing with neighbors, and going out with his girlfriend. In this way Kōsuke breaks many traditions of Japanese society, such as not taking on the role of salaryman and striving for personal economic betterment. Despite this, Kōsuke is well respected and liked by his neighbors and friends, even if they do find him and his philosophy a bit peculiar. In the end, Kōsuke's philosophy of mixing "poor" living with intellect and traditional Japanese values affirms much of Japanese culture and its traditions, rather than tears them down. (Source: Wikipedia)

Excerpts of Dai Tokyo Binbou Seikatsu Manual were intermittently published with English annotations in the Japanese language learning magazine Mangajin from September 1990 to May 1997.