Posts Tagged ‘tokyo’

Reflections of Tokyo

Monday, February 1st, 2010
Reflections of Tokyo

Tokyo is a very old and historic city. Scenes like this are not uncommon in this city. Here, one of the Imperial Palace’s guard houses sits in contrast with the modern city’s skyscrapers. Traditional rule by the monarchy versus today’s importance of the economy and capitalization.

Due to the Allied bombing in World War II, much of the city has been rebuilt in the last 50-60 years. This makes Tokyo a fantasticly modern city, but at the expense of its historic roots, even despite the preserved temples and gardens that tourists tend to flock to.

Sunday Shopping in Ginza, Tokyo

Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Sunday Shopping in Ginza, Tokyo

Every Sunday Tokyo shuts down the main street in Ginza (a prefecture of Tokyo) to allow the masses to go shopping in this high-end shopping district.  The streets are lined with designer shops from around the world.  You name it, it’s here.  Consider this the equivalent of New York’s 5th Avenue, or Toronto’s Yorkville, but on a much, much larger scale.

This particular Sunday was warm for December, which I suspect drew a lot of people out to take advantage of the nice weather.  However, Tokyo is so populous that this could be the norm here and just as many would be out on a cloudy winter day too.  But I don’t see too many shopping bags, so maybe it’s the weather… :)

Tokyo International Forum

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Tokyo International Forum

The Tokyo International Forum is a unique building in Tokyo that houses conference rooms, concert halls and exhibitions. The building’s cavernous atrium is highlighted by the interesting steel structure at the top, a wall of windows on one side, and a wooden wall on the other.

The building is truly huge. Standing at the bottom, one is impressed at the height and size of the place, as well as the open feeling it provides. Standing on the steel and glass catwalk that ramps its way to the very top of the building, it’s hard not to feel a bit (or a lot) of vertigo. Railings are made of glass, and there is nothing between you and the floor. I’ll confess that I didn’t actually make it to the very top. Hanging over the side of the railing to get the perfect shot (coming in a future post) left me feeling a little wishful for terra firma.