I don't see Tokyo Tower in that picture, and without Godzilla tearing it apart, how can one be absolutely certain that is Tokyo? Not sayin' I'm skeptical, but I do have my doubts.
On a side note, the first time I visited Tokyo, in 1982, one night in the camera district I pulled out my Pentax to see if I could get a picture of the neon lights that are so common there. It was so bright that the built in light meter was pegged - it was damn near like shooting in daylight.
So Chip, now that you've seen the lengths of Colfax and Broadway what do you think of the place?
It seems only a hundred years old.
You're right!
It's impressive Tokyo has a street that long. The whole town grew organically like a nerve cell. It's not anything so geometrically clever as an organized preplanned grid. Although grids were imposed later. Their city is more like footpaths meandering all around some of greater importance than others. Somewhere in there among the tall buildings is the patch for the imperial palace.
On the street outside the place, a steep moat separates the compound stands an equestrian statue of a samurai on a solid warhorse. My brother and I stood and admired the statue, remarking on the pigeon poop streaking it and the blue discoloration. It is an impressive statue. A few months later we were standing in front of the equestrian statue at Jackson Square in New Orleans. The statue is featured in our new Louisiana Civics book and we were both eager to see it. Once there though with the statue in front of us we were both disappointed. No comparison. Unfair comparison. The Jackson statue is yard decoration by comparison. Come to think of it, they're both actual yard decorations. One yard much bigger and more grandly encompassing than the other, a yard that spans the entire area outside the moat for a very large park and now with tall buildings built up around it and encircling it.
I'm reminded now, the moment my face is pasted to the fuselage window looking out onto the tops of Tokyo building for our flight out. It was late afternoon, and nothing but gray. Gray, gray, gray, gray, gray, layers, of gray upon gray. Intensely layered concrete-gray with virtually zero color to it, although color flags waving, color advertisements everywhere, color vehicles parked on every available inch, it all washes to depressing intensely supersaturated with humanity crawling all over itself, not just as ants, rather, as piles of ants upon piles of ants upon piles of ants each crawling for their desperate unavailable space. A dreadful brown-gray that would be communist were it not so vital and hyperactive. It was sad. I was elevated to be leaving it. And then by sharp contrast flying past Travis AFB over the California country side with wide open an expansive green spaces with white barns with red roofs here and there, like a picturesque HO train setup, or the opening credits to Green Acres television show. The wonder of color. The amazing sense of space. The wealth of land blew by childhood mind. Kablam. Brain bits all over the place. The contrast between Tokyo and Travis could not be more stark. I was so pleased for that circling descent into green California and so pleased to be back in America. And that sensation holds even now.
Sixty, I felt badly when I read about the radioactive boars running around. Made me think about Godzilla...it was too depressing to joke about.
Before I posted this pic I was looking for some photos of what you're talking about, but more in the small alleys. A long time ago I had a link to a lot of pics that touched me. Red lanterns, neon signs, little restaurants and shops, but I couldn't find ones that hit me the same.
Just the idea of that many people crammed together makes my skin crawl. It may be pretty from above, but on the ground....nope nope nope. Not even to visit. Nope.
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I don't see Tokyo Tower in that picture, and without Godzilla tearing it apart, how can one be absolutely certain that is Tokyo? Not sayin' I'm skeptical, but I do have my doubts.
On a side note, the first time I visited Tokyo, in 1982, one night in the camera district I pulled out my Pentax to see if I could get a picture of the neon lights that are so common there. It was so bright that the built in light meter was pegged - it was damn near like shooting in daylight.
They got their Ginza, we got our Colfax.
Flash: night time inside a car.
So Chip, now that you've seen the lengths of Colfax and Broadway what do you think of the place?
It seems only a hundred years old.
You're right!
It's impressive Tokyo has a street that long. The whole town grew organically like a nerve cell. It's not anything so geometrically clever as an organized preplanned grid. Although grids were imposed later. Their city is more like footpaths meandering all around some of greater importance than others. Somewhere in there among the tall buildings is the patch for the imperial palace.
On the street outside the place, a steep moat separates the compound stands an equestrian statue of a samurai on a solid warhorse. My brother and I stood and admired the statue, remarking on the pigeon poop streaking it and the blue discoloration. It is an impressive statue. A few months later we were standing in front of the equestrian statue at Jackson Square in New Orleans. The statue is featured in our new Louisiana Civics book and we were both eager to see it. Once there though with the statue in front of us we were both disappointed. No comparison. Unfair comparison. The Jackson statue is yard decoration by comparison. Come to think of it, they're both actual yard decorations. One yard much bigger and more grandly encompassing than the other, a yard that spans the entire area outside the moat for a very large park and now with tall buildings built up around it and encircling it.
Our flight out looked nothing like this.
I'm reminded now, the moment my face is pasted to the fuselage window looking out onto the tops of Tokyo building for our flight out. It was late afternoon, and nothing but gray. Gray, gray, gray, gray, gray, layers, of gray upon gray. Intensely layered concrete-gray with virtually zero color to it, although color flags waving, color advertisements everywhere, color vehicles parked on every available inch, it all washes to depressing intensely supersaturated with humanity crawling all over itself, not just as ants, rather, as piles of ants upon piles of ants upon piles of ants each crawling for their desperate unavailable space. A dreadful brown-gray that would be communist were it not so vital and hyperactive. It was sad. I was elevated to be leaving it. And then by sharp contrast flying past Travis AFB over the California country side with wide open an expansive green spaces with white barns with red roofs here and there, like a picturesque HO train setup, or the opening credits to Green Acres television show. The wonder of color. The amazing sense of space. The wealth of land blew by childhood mind. Kablam. Brain bits all over the place. The contrast between Tokyo and Travis could not be more stark. I was so pleased for that circling descent into green California and so pleased to be back in America. And that sensation holds even now.
Sixty, I felt badly when I read about the radioactive boars running around. Made me think about Godzilla...it was too depressing to joke about.
Before I posted this pic I was looking for some photos of what you're talking about, but more in the small alleys. A long time ago I had a link to a lot of pics that touched me. Red lanterns, neon signs, little restaurants and shops, but I couldn't find ones that hit me the same.
Just found the Samurai horse statue. Outrageous, love it.
Just the idea of that many people crammed together makes my skin crawl. It may be pretty from above, but on the ground....nope nope nope. Not even to visit. Nope.
They built an Eiffel looking replica.
See if you can spot it on this page.
Link
It's all over night skyline pictures.
I'm not too crazy about replicas.
Why not build something new?
It's insulting to the creative powers to build copies.
Buildings are not origamis.
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