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- - Tokyo 2012 (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206749)

Ayreonaut

Jul 30, 2013 7:54 AM

Tokyo 2012

August 2012 - I finally get to my third continent with an eight-day stay in Tokyo. I had a bit of an itinerary (thanks in large part to suggestions from forumers Shawn and LeeWilson) but really just got off at popular subway stations and wandered around those areas, going up to the many observation decks in the city, and pointing at pictures on restaurant menus. I spent an afternoon in Yokohama as well (where I think many of my better photos were taken), checking out the pier, Chinatown, and of course Landmark Tower.

I'm thinking I'll have at least five hundred photos to post (decided to be less selective than many and post more than just my favourites), but rather than doing five plus threads I'll just post more in this thread as I edit them (I only just finished the first hundred).

Anyway, here we go...

1. En route to Shinjuku from Narita.

3. First spotting of the new SkyTree.

4. Arriving in Shinjuku.

5. The view from my room in the Shinjuku Washington Hotel.

7. The following afternoon it's time for my first menu-pointing experience. I went with #19.

8. Safe!

35. I enjoyed these.

48. Tokyo has a lot of these tall, slender midrises. I like them.

56. Even mechanics' shops are located in the ground floor of residential towers.

61. Yes, it is Asahi Super Dry, not Sapporo, that is Japan's most popular beer. It is awful.

65. Not sure I'd eat a fish that comes out of a river surrounded by 35 million people, but whatever floats your boat. If you have one.

68. The were a few people in the crosswalks.

70. I like the hat-wearing walk light guy. Yes, I'm easily amused.

71. Trains. Trains everywhere.

72. Laundry day.

74. I kinda wanted to come here at night with my tripod, but as it turned out, I was exhausted every night from walking around for ten hours a day in 35C (humid) heat. Once I got back to the hotel, I rarely made it out of Shinjuku after dark.

77. I didn't go up. It had recently been completed and the lines were absolutely ridiculous.

88. Up in the observation floor of the Metropolitan Government Building.

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Thanks for having a look. There will be more to come (including most of the best stuff) once I edit another bunch.

gregSt

Jul 30, 2013 9:57 AM

Great pics, can't wait to see more. :)

Cory	Jul 30, 2013 10:58 AM

Nice work. Are you a Canon or Nikon guy?

johnnypd

Jul 30, 2013 12:58 PM

Looks like I took the same bus, and stayed in the same hotel (smells of smoke) as you did on my first visit to Tokyo. Did you use the tunnel to Shinjuku?

2nd time I was in a much nicer Ginza hotel opposite Tokyo Station which was great, but I prefer the Shinjuku area and would recommend the area for first-time visitors.

Coldrsx

Jul 30, 2013 3:00 PM

Nice tour. I miss my time in Tokyo, such a fantastic city.

We almost stayed at the Shinjuku Washington, but sprang for the Tokyu Excel Shibuya overlooking the intersection. Since you didn't get a night shot, here are 2 for you from us:)

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/DSC_0471.jpg
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/DSC_0471.jpg)

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...5/DSC_0080.jpg
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...5/DSC_0080.jpg)

Tony	Jul 30, 2013 3:12 PM

Very cool! I love how Japan has those "small" streets that have retail. I could really use some sushi now...

Ayreonaut

Jul 30, 2013 4:37 PM

Haha, thanks Cold. I love that one from above. Shibuya would be a fun place to stay as well, I'm sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesternGulf (Post 6214947)

Nice work. Are you a Canon or Nikon guy?

Thanks, I'm using an old Canon Rebel XSi that I got in 2009)

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnypd (Post 6214991)

I may have taken that tunnel. I can't really remember, but I do seem to remember something of the sort. I think Shinjuku is indeed a good base for a first-time visit. It's easy to get to the rest of the city (though many other areas are as well), and Shinjuku Station is quite the introduction to the transportation system in the city. At least it was for me as I first went there as people were heading to work on a weekday morning. It was crazy busy.

ue	Jul 30, 2013 5:03 PM

Looks like a lot of fun city exploring! Really ought to get my ass off this continent one of these days...

diskojoe

Jul 30, 2013 11:23 PM

Ahhhhhhh TOKYO supreme!!!! :cheers:

destroycreate

Jul 30, 2013 11:48 PM

I'm literally drooling right now...

Yorkie

Jul 31, 2013 12:45 AM

:philosoraptor::raygun:..The urban giant comes alive.......a little scary, but fun.

animatedmartian

Jul 31, 2013 1:17 AM

Oh man. It seems so easy to get lost among the sea of urbanness. Though what I love is that Tokyo looks so clean. :yes:

pdxtex

Jul 31, 2013 2:21 AM

even with a gajillion people stacked up on one another, its still looks orderly and nice. western city planners should take note (with the exception of rats nest overhead distribution lines, but meh...). nice pics.

ColDayMan

Jul 31, 2013 2:23 AM

Love it.

KevinFromTexas

Jul 31, 2013 3:10 AM

Awesome pics.

I think I could get used to that. I'd probably need some curtains for my windows, though.

giallo

Jul 31, 2013 6:04 AM

Nice to see these pictures finally get their day in the sun. All. 500. of. them. Jesus, man. That's some serious photo-taking.

This is already a super thorough tour. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where else you went in the Ultra City.

citizensf

Jul 31, 2013 6:10 PM

I have to admit that despite all the great skyscraper shots and streets capes, the thing repeatedly had me mesmerized were those awesome tangles of overhead wires and telephone poles in some of your shots. Very cool, great stuff.

SignalHillHiker

Jul 31, 2013 8:52 PM

Fantastic work. Looks GORGEOUS! :-)

Ex-Ithacan

Jul 31, 2013 9:41 PM

Absolutely Amazing Place......thanks for the tour (so far).

Ayreonaut

Jul 31, 2013 11:18 PM

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments and views! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian (Post 6216000)

Oh man. It seems so easy to get lost among the sea of urbanness. Though what I love is that Tokyo looks so clean. :yes:

Yeah, it's shockingly clean. I too love that about Tokyo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by giallo (Post 6216276)

This is already a super thorough tour. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where else you went in the Ultra City.

Thanks man. Like I said, I basically just pick a subway stop on the map with lots of connections (probably a popular area), go there and wander around aimlessly. It's a great way to visit foreign cities, imo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by citizensf (Post 6216822)

Hehe, I like it too. Certainly more of that to come in this thread. :tup:

Architype

Aug 1, 2013 4:08 AM

Congrats on getting to Tokyo. The photos are great and so interesting, showing a huge city that you managed to bring all together in this thread.
One comment, some of the new buildings reminded me of Fascist architecture, peculiar but still impressive.

:tup:

Ayreonaut

Aug 2, 2013 2:18 AM

A few more.

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107. It's funny, in North America police car lights seem to be getting slimmer all the time. Apparently the same can't be said for Japan.

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115. I had lunch one day at the top of the Seiroka Garden Tower (I didn't plan on it, I just went up looking for an observation deck and felt bad once I got up and there was just a restaurant, so I decided to stay).

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Plenty more to come. :cheers:

Buckeye Native 001

Aug 2, 2013 3:01 AM

Fantastic :tup:

Ayreonaut

Aug 2, 2013 6:32 AM

Another thirty already? Look at me go!! :)

These are mostly from Odaiba, with some other random shots sprinkled throughout.

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132. The Rainbow Bridge. I had one of my favourite Ayreon songs stuck in my head all day.

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149. Haha

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volguus zildrohar

Aug 3, 2013 2:20 AM

Wonderful shots!

mrnyc

Aug 3, 2013 1:21 PM

very nice. you had fun!

looking forward to yokohama.

gatt	Aug 5, 2013 11:34 PM

Amazing city.

pdxtex

Aug 9, 2013 1:18 AM

again, more small detail shit thats important, see pic 151.

engineer 1 - i wonder what would happen if somebody fell on to these subway tracks???

engineer 2 - he would die.

engineer 3 - lets build a barrier that matches up perfect with the subway doors and protects passengers on the platform!

ding ding!!! good idea.

SHiRO

Aug 10, 2013 10:57 AM

Awesome! Tokyo is just insane...

Yorkie

Aug 12, 2013 3:50 PM

Orderly urban chaos.....is there any other city of that magnitude as clean looking and non violent??:shrug:..What does that say about it's people and society..:order::tup::???::order:

Surrealplaces

Aug 15, 2013 5:40 PM

Excellent shots! Man Tokyo is one busy place.

mthq	Aug 16, 2013 8:02 PM

aw man these are teh badazznesses. Keep 'em coming.

on a side note, stylized katakana is irritating!!

ChiTownCity

Aug 24, 2013 1:55 AM

This place will forever remain high on my bucket list of places to visit before I die. My Asian Cherry Will Be Popped even if it's a little... erm... stale.

On another note, I enjoyed every bit of this thread!

What a funky piece of architecture this building is:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9...dd095c5858.jpg
Audi Forum Tokyo by Ayrcan, on Flickr

and I love that those mini trucks are in front of it like that as well. Nicely composed!

Ayreonaut

Aug 28, 2013 2:15 PM

Another fifteen. I just got back to St. John's and have a tonne of things to do before school starts, so editing is going slow.

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Coldrsx

Aug 28, 2013 2:28 PM

^is that stone path/forest shot en route to the Meiji Shrine?

Ayreonaut

Aug 28, 2013 2:40 PM

Indeed. It was actually my favourite part of the whole park area. I was 'meh' on the shrine itself, but the wide, empty paths and eerie canopy were pretty sweet.

Tony	Aug 30, 2013 4:17 PM

awww man! The awesomeness keeps coming!

Coldrsx

Aug 30, 2013 4:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut (Post 6247137)

Indeed. It was actually my favourite part of the whole park area. I was 'meh' on the shrine itself, but the wide, empty paths and eerie canopy were pretty sweet.

Concur... the scale of the forest and entrance was incredible.:cheers:

Ayreonaut

Jan 24, 2014 4:54 AM

Life, school, beer. Things have been getting in the way of editing for some time now. Another few photos ready to post though.

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192 - Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a mid-rise karaoke bar. Japan.

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inSaeculaSaeculorum

Jan 24, 2014 6:28 PM

Amazing photos (revolting thread title though)

SignalHillHiker

Jan 24, 2014 6:35 PM

This isn't a photo you took. This is a CGI depiction of what St. John's would look like today had the Japanese won WWII.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayrcan/9411745493/

I know that yellow house. It's on Spencer Street.

Ayreonaut

Jan 30, 2014 2:41 AM

A few more, mostly from the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. There are plenty more to come from up there. Once I was up I had to stay and wanted some night shots. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me bring my camera bag up so I could only bring one lens. I think most of these are from inside, where I still had all my gear.

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