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Crossings
Aug 01, 2021
One of my favourite sounds in Tokyo is the sound of a level crossing. Just adjacent to Araiyakushi Mae station in the early morning people are making their way to work and school across the tracks. Many have just alighted from the departing ever-punctual train. The trains in Tokyo really are a wonder. We had just finished a three train journey across Tokyo during a Friday morning rush hour, and despite the sheer number of people, it never felt overcrowded or uncomfortable
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Kebab Shop
Jul 21, 2021
There is so much of Tokyo in this tiny scene. The utility poles, the narrow roads, the even narrower buildings, a temple, vending machines, a combini, bicycles and a bright, but this time sadly closed, a bright shop selling hot food to take away. Perfection.
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Takeaway Yakitori
Jul 12, 2021
I am always awed and pleased to see such establishments as this happily opening up and selling their wares each day. This place must take some setting up and taking down each day. I love the colourful flowers and New Year ornaments put out.
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Tower To Tower
May 05, 2021
Two of the most iconic sites in modern Tokyo linked by this line of sight. In normal times countless eyes on the viewing platforms of both towers cast gazes that cross over the buildings below as they wonder who is looking their way from the other Tower. This is a tiny area of the whole panorama visible from Tokyo Tower, and yet see what a variety of style and scale compete for ground.…
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Cute Door
Apr 15, 2021
I am not enamoured of all things kawaii, but there is something intriguing about a door like this. One has to wonder what lies behind. Perhaps I have been watching too many Ghibli movies. This door was beside the Sumikko Gurashi store along 1st Avenue in the underground shopping mall of Tokyo Station on the Yaesu side.
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Ningyocho Night Bars
Mar 14, 2021
There is something wonderful about the bright neon lights and other signs that beckon you into darkened doorways on streets all around Tokyo. They often appear intimidating, especially for those without any Japanses language skills, but I have never had a bad experience and always found both the staff and clientel to be welcoming and friendly. This is a short stretch of a small street in Ningyocho.
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Sunny Minato
Feb 14, 2021
It is interesting to see how many of the buildings around Tokyo Tower are not as tall as you might expect. Here, looking closer along Sakurada-dori south through Minato City towards Takanawa, the apartment and business buildings seem to rise as they get further away. It may not be deliberate, but it does have the happy consequence of making for many wonderful views from the Tower. It was a lovely sunny day when I took this, making me want to join the pedestrians down on the sunlit pavement.…
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Looking down on Zojoji
Jan 20, 2021
The viewing platform at Tokyo Tower provides an excellent opportunity to look down on the magnificent Zojoji Temple complex. Taken at the end of 2020, and a few days before I was standing in the Temple on a subzero New Years Eve, this is a view from just before the world changed and the travel options we so much took for granted were taken away. The narrow road on the left is a familiar route for me, being my approach of choice to the iconic Tokyo Tower.…
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Hato Bus
Nov 09, 2020
There is something special about a Japanese tour bus, and these from the 70 year old Hato Bus company, at the foot of Tokyo Tower, are a fine example. They carry you in comfort along the paths and between the districts of the city and beyond. The smartly uniformed staff keep you informed and entertained, and the views and sights are an endless source of opportunities to note for future exploration on foot.…
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Tokyo Tower through the trees
Oct 30, 2020
Last Christmas Eve I approached Tokyo Tower from a new angle for me and saw it rising as if from a forest. The Tower really is the centre about which Tokyo spins. So long a symbol of the city and still, even with the modern prevalence of high-rise buildings, visible all over the city.