district

Mori Tower

Oct 04, 2020

The Roppongi Hills Mori Tower is an amazing complex with one of the best observation decks in Tokyo. This photograph of the top dozen floors or so was taken from Tokyo Tower, and if you look at the full size image you can see people behind the windows of the 52nd floor looking back at you.

Tokyo Prince Hotel

Sep 22, 2020

This hotel, seen here from Tokyo Tower, has the feel of another era that appeals to me. Built in time for the olympics way back in 1964, it still exudes a restrained elegance echoed by what I have seen second hand of its interior. Whenever I have walked past it or looked down on it as here, I think to myself, “One day we will stay there”. Sadly too many such buildings are being razed and rebuilt, or renovated beyond recall.…

Roads and Skylines

Sep 07, 2020

This photograph was taken looking south towards Shinkawa towards the end of the day. The red brickwork is part of the Royal Park Hotel. I love the way layer upon layer of high rise buildings jostle for a place in the sky, presenting a line far more complex than the most intricate key, and just as unique. From every one of countless windows there is a different and individual skyline.

Meguro Housing Complex

Aug 25, 2020

There are a seemingly infinite variety of housing projects in Tokyo that are each fascinating and captivating in their design and detail. It would be nice to see some from the inside one day. This one, in Meguro Ward, is as seen from the Ebisu Garden Place, a landmark which has a great platform from which to view the four Wards of Minato, Shibuya, Shinagawa and Meguro.

Blue Horizons

Aug 11, 2020

Looking south over Sumida and Koto wards from the Skytree on an almost cloudless April morning over countless homes and businesses all the way to the Tokyo Gate Bridge and Haneda Airport and the highrise cluster of Chuo City. It looks vast, and yet is still only a small slice of the whole of Tokyo. Below, in the long thin Sumida River Park where I had just walked, are chaperoned tribes of colourfully hatted kindergarten classes playing, and old men quietly fishing in a fragment of an old canal.…

Borderlands

Jul 30, 2020

I am fascinated by the borderlands where nature begins to take back the works of man. In this photograph taken in Minamisenju at the south end of Arakawa City, nature seems to have approached from the right and is washing against the shores of human activity on the left.

Tokyo Ramshackle

Jul 15, 2020

Whilst much of Tokyo is new and shiny, there are still countless little, old, and rundown buildings to be seen whenever you step off the main business and tourist areas. Each one is brimming with character and a history one can only guess at. I particularly like ones like this one, at the northern edge of Minowa, that appears to be being propped up by the more modern and robust buildings either side.…

Urban Eels

Jul 01, 2020

It might just be me, but these Shinkansen, seen in Tokyo Station from a viewpoint on the Post Office viewing deck, look like giant futuristic eels lurking in an urban coral reef.

Royal Park Hotel

Jun 16, 2020

The Royal Park Hotel in Nihonbashi Kakigara-cho, close to Suitengumae metro station, has an impressive red brick appeal and a fascinating tower rising along the outside corner of the L shaped building. The circular windows in the rooms afford 270 degree views over the north and east and an envieable view of Tokyo Tower. Well worth a stay if you can afford it.

Roads upon roads upon roads upon roads

Jun 05, 2020

The complexity of the transport infrastructure is not often appreciated from ground level, but at some places you can look up and see a glimpse of it. Like here at Hakozaki Junction where four layers of roads can be seen.