Two very different races. Here's every stat, side by side, to help you pick.
Indicative — based on GPX data. Both courses normalised to start at 0m.
✓ marks the better number on that stat.
Berlin and Tokyo are both Majors built around fast, well-organised courses, but the shape of each is very different. Tokyo drops 445m over its point-to-point route with a net descent of 250m, while Berlin is essentially flat, gaining and losing only around 60m across the whole loop. Tokyo's net downhill helps explain a course record (2:02:16) that, while excellent, still sits a little behind Berlin's 2:01:09.
Both sell out by ballot and draw fields in the 40–50,000 range. The contrast that matters most is season and course feel: Berlin's late-September loop through central Berlin against Tokyo's early-March point-to-point past the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Tower, with more net downhill to manage over the closing kilometres. If pancake-flat, all-loop simplicity is what you want, Berlin wins; if you want a Major with a bit more elevation drama and an early-season date, Tokyo is the pick.