There are a number of high towers in Tokyo. I saw one as I was walking to Shinjuku that seemed rather out of keeping. Most have either a futuristic look or just look like a radio tower. This one was a very large, square, concrete structure. It looked like the sort of thing you might expect to see in Soviet era Moscow rather than Tokyo. A strange looking building.
When the Korean Air 747 pulled away from the gate, the ground crew all lined up to wave goodbye. I loved the personal touch. Not something you ever see in the US. I did wonder how many people on board were looking out of the windows to appreciate this gesture.
On my first visit to Tokyo, a few years ago, I made a brief visit to the park around the Imperial Palace. I decided to take another look during my first visit this year. However, while I knew it was going to be hot (it had been incredibly hot and humid all week) but the exposed area around the palace combined with the beating sun meant it was pretty uncomfortable. There were still plenty of tourists though.
I walked along one side of the palace grounds near the main entrance and then along the moat to some of the more famous viewing locations. I got a few shots as I walked along but it is fair to say I was not totally in to it. After I had got a bit further on, the heat was really getting to me and the desire to be back in the shade overtook any desire to explore further. There was a running club finishing their run which seemed amazing to me as I could hardly handle walking. Time to retreat.
I have been in downtown Dallas a couple of times recently for work. One of the places we have had dinner is across the road from a small park area that has a sculpture of a giant eyeball at one end. It is a bit creepy to be honest. I photographed it on my way to dinner when the sun was still going down. When we came out, it was fully dark so I figured I would get another shot.
The hotel I have used on my recent visits to Tokyo is one of a group of hotels in one location. Between each of the buildings is a garden. It is a peaceful place to hang out (even when it was as hot and humid as it was when I was first there) and it has temples, bells, a lake and lots of places to rest and contemplate. In the evening, it is subtly illuminated providing a very different feel compared to how it is during the day.
On some occasions, music was piped in. One evening there was a guy playing some sort of flute as he wandered around the garden. I assume he was hired to do so rather than just showing up and playing but you never know. He was fighting the noise of the cicadas when it was hot!
A feature of the Japanese countryside is the amount of rice that is growing everywhere you go. I was often amazed to see small sections of rice growing in little spaces between developments of buildings and homes. Further out, where there is more space, the rice fields are substantial. These rice fields were in Ibaraki prefecture. As the sun got lower in the sky, the tops of the plants caught the light nicely as they blew in the breeze. It had quite a peaceful feel to it all.
Part of my exploration of Tokyo involved wandering around some back streets. The city felt so safe, I wanted to see what was going on away from the main activity. The streets were a maze of routes to get around which is hardly surprising given the age of the city. Lots of little shops, bars and homes were tucked away, hardly any great distance from big office buildings. The contrast was quite obvious. People were about but it wasn’t busy. Seeing them on their way at least made me aware that these parts of the city were not devoid of life.
One of my meetings in Tokyo took place in the Akihabara district. The company had a cafeteria on one of the higher floors of the building which served food and beer after work and they invited us up there. Aside from having an enjoyable meal and fun company, we also got to enjoy the view of the city as the sun went down. Tokyo is a city that is lit up at night and it looks beautiful. I took along a camera because that’s what I do and grabbed a few shots of the view. It would be good to have set up a time lapse as the sun went down. If I ever get invited back, maybe I’ll try and get that done.
I briefly saw Tokyo Station last time I was in Japan. This time I wanted to take a better look. While the station has been significantly redeveloped over the years, the west frontage that looks towards the Imperial Palace has retained the brick structure designed and built over 100 years ago (although some rebuilding was necessary over the years). I think it is an interesting looking building and an interesting contrast with the high-rise developments around it or even the old buildings that can still be found in the city.
I got there in mid-morning and my brain was obviously not firing on all cylinders. The front was in shade with the sun quite high in the sky and I thought for some reason I had left it too late. I ended up taking a bunch of pictures of the building, none of which I was terribly happy with given the shadow on the front and the bright overall conditions. I did shoot some of the details around the hallways and overhangs which were fine.
It was only later when I returned from the Palace grounds that I realized which way the building was facing and that the sun had now come around to the front of the station, not retreated. Consequently, things were a lot more brightly illuminated. Let’s not kid ourselves. Midday sun is not the greatest thing for shooting but, for getting snapshots for the trip, this was a significant improvement. With such a wide and low structure, a panorama was obviously going to be tried!
It was time to head home, so I checked in for my flight and headed to Delta’s lounge to await boarding. What I did not realize is that the lounge overlooks the flightline and mirrors the view from the viewing terrace. It was a crummy day with a typhoon approaching so not ideal for shooting and certainly not ideal for shooting through glass but, despite the occasional reflection, it was actually surprisingly good. The battery on the camera was on its last legs but why not get whatever you can.
The fun of a different city in a different country is the new airlines. Airlines I have heard of but not seen and airlines I have never heard of at all. They kindly would rotate quite close to where we were which was appreciated. The rainy conditions also meant that, while the lighting was pretty flat, there were vortices, spluff over the wings and inlet fogging to add some interest.
