Last Friday night we went to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi to check out the Christmas lights (referred to as illuminations or イルミネーション) and have some dinner. The restaurants with the good views in the Garden Terrace were all booked so we had some inexpensive, Vietnamese food without a view instead. Ironically, even though the place was packed, all the restaurants and shops closed at 9 p.m. We then headed over to Roppongi Hills where I took the above photo of the Tokyo Tower, which was lit differently than usual.

The Mori Garden was illuminated as it basked in the glow of Asahi TV Studio.

The Grass Square behind the Midtown Tower and Garden Terrace were the scene for this ever-changing light display.

Posted on December 8th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: mori tower, night photography, Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments: 1

Let’s start our next installment of Tokyo Tower photos with an “Abbey Road” kind of picture.

We ate some really good Chinese food in Roppongi Hills one afternoon. We were unable to get a window seat, but I still took a photo from the table in that restaurant and the above was the result.

Finally, for today anyway, the Tokyo Tower from Shinjuku. The building just to the right of the tower is the Midtown Tower, Tokyo’s tallest building. In the lower right you can see Meiji Jingu Stadium (明治神宮野球場), home of the Yakult Swallows.

Posted on December 4th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: tokyo tower. Comments Off on Tokyo Tower photos

Hokusai did the famous series “36 Views of Mt. Fuji,” a couple of which you can see here. I think I have taken more than that many pictures of Tokyo Tower from around Tokyo. I don’t think I will share 36 photos of Tokyo Tower with you today, but from time to time I’ll post a few and maybe we’ll eventually get to 36.

The top photo was taken from Roppongi Hills.

You can’t see Tokyo Tower from most spots on the Waseda University campus, as Tokyo Tower is on the opposite side of Tokyo. However, from a few of the higher buildings you can see it as demonstrated in the above photo, taken at a somewhat zoomed 50mm.

Today’s final shot is from the top of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. The Shinagawa Station, in the lower right, is one of the busiest stations in Japan.

Posted on November 25th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments Off on 36 views of the Tokyo Tower

Typhoon 18 recently ripped through Tokyo. The rain stopped in the morning, followed by some incredible cloud displays. While the sky was mostly blue, a few clouds seemed to be trying to catch up to the typhoon. They zipped across the sky at amazing speed. The blue was bluer than I think I’ve ever seen a sky. I have never experienced such clear Tokyo air before. The hard rain of the night combined with high winds of the morning really cleaned things up.

We ate lunch that day on the 49th floor of the Sumitomo Building in Shinjuku with a window seat to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, my kids had both cameras on their field trips to Cambodia and Hiroshima so that view will have to remain only in my memory. After spending the rest of the afternoon in parks and museums, we headed over to the Ebisu Garden Place Tower to enjoy the sunset from the 39th floor. This place has the best free views in Tokyo. Unlike the buildings in Shinjuku, from Ebisu you have great angles on Shinjuku, Shibuya, and the Tokyo Tower. On top of the superior vantage point on this evening, the sky was freakishly clear. Not only could we see Mt. Fuji (my first time seeing it from the Tokyo city center) clearly, we could see as far as possible in every direction. We could even see stars. It was magical. Too bad I didn’t have a camera. Next time a typhoon hits Tokyo I will be sure to hit the Ebisu Garden Place Tower at sunset with camera in hand.

A few days later, after the kids brought back the cameras, I did get some night shots of Tokyo (featured in this post) although the air wasn’t even remotely as pure. I took all four photos from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. The top picture is of the Shinjuku Park Tower (on the left). It is the building featured in “Lost in Translation.”

Looking out the windows on the opposite side of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office you can see the Shinjuku Station (down and to the left), Tokyo Tower (very small in the distance just to the right of center), and the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building (featuring the tallest clock tower in the world).

Above is basically the same picture as the one I took in the sunshine more than a month before.

Staring out at this view is something I can do all night long. It looks like I’m not alone.

Posted on October 18th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, night photography, shinjuku, Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments: 9

The guidebook in our apartment (copyright pre-2003) said there is no point in going to Roppongi unless you are going at night. Well, we had no plans one Sunday morning so we went anyway. It turns out things have changed since the Mori Tower was built in Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ森タワー) and now there is plenty to do any time of the day or night.

My son went to a movie in Mori Tower with his friends, my wife went shopping in and around Mori Tower, and my daughter and I went up the Mori Tower to the top. It isn’t free to get to the top. On this day it was 2,000 yen for adults and 700 yen for kids, but there are several things to see at the top. The “Tokyo City View” offers a very nice 360 degree view of the city. Unlike the free views in Shinjuku, there are no other skyscrapers in the area to block your view. You’re also close enough to the Tokyo Tower to get a really good angle on it.

Currently there is a Sky Aquarium at the top included in admission. The various fish and their tanks would have seemed quite cheap with the music turned off and the houselights on, but in this environment they were very Japanese–mysterious and somewhat magical.

One of the nice things about the views from the top is that you aren’t just pressed up against glass like you usually are from typical observation points. Instead, you can get a drink, sit, relax, and enjoy the view. Besides the bar setting, there are somewhat private bench sitting/viewing places, rooms with built in seats around the edge, and a variety of other options as well.

I’ll show you some more pictures from the top as well as some of the museum, which is also included in admission, on a later date.

Posted on September 27th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: mori tower, Tokyo, tokyo tower. Comments: 1