 |
 |
|
|
These are some photos taken by Eric Lee and I in 1997 of interesting sights around Tokyo.
I'll start off with this view of the city, taken from the 46th floor of the
Tokyo Metropolitan Building. As you can see, the city just goes on forever...
an endless expanse of concrete.
This is Kirk's room, which is essentially identical to mine. We may
look like we're having a fun party, but really we're thinking, "hurry up
and take that picture so we can get out of here." In Tokyo, there is an
inverse relationship between good location and room size, and we Sony types
landed the most extreme end of the spectrum with our awesome location and
shoebox of a room. Note that the photographer is standing right in front
of the door, and so the only part of the apartment which is not visible
is the bathroom.
Another example of space-saving economy: this gas station has
nozzles that descend from the roof, so that you don't need a
pump taking up precious asphalt.
The ever-present vending machine offers a variety of
products, such as this can of "post water". Oftentimes the use
of English on packaging in Japan will leave the native
speaker of English scratching his or her head (see
this story for more examples).
This is Sony's headquarters, where I worked until I was moved to a new
building across the street.
Most people are under the impression that Tokyo trains are always
crowded. However, as this picture shows, much of the time they aren't that
crowded at all. I mean, consider that the photographer was able to move
his arms enough to take this picture! Now on a crowded train, one
couldn't dream of taking a photograph, because of the squish factor.
Late at night, the trains are not crowded at all (until the very last
train), and if you watch carefully, you might catch someone
sleeping! Actually, sleeping people are quite common... in fact, it's probably
the most popular train activity. Even while standing up. Reading is the
second most popular activity, and the third most popular is talking on the
phone. The runner up is reading and sleeping... a very
difficult-to-master technique. Haven't seen anyone talking on the phone and
sleeping though.
Here are two views of is the Fuji TV building, which is built out
on a bunch of landfill
in Tokyo Harbour. The whole area is filled with bizarre buildings,
as if the architects were all trying to outdo each other. This
one's my favourite though. There's a restaurant inside of the
ball.
Neat, eh? I'll leave the origin of this picture
as an exercise for the reader.
Here I am at Tokyo Disney Land (which isn't technically in Tokyo).
Here's a side of Japan that
not too many people see. This is one of the numerous exits of Shinjuku
station, a station that over two million people pass
through every day. But for the
residents of this "cardboard village", it is home. Many of the boxes have
been painted, and I hear that some of them are quite comfy, containing
several rooms (including a guest room). The authorities have tended to
overlook this transgression of public space for some time, but the
last time I was passing through the area they seemed to be tearing
some of the non-painted ones down.
Continuing my photographic exposé of strange sights in
Tokyo, here are some kids hanging out near Harajuku station,
where every day is Hallowe'en!
Not too far away, some people are grooving to "Great Balls of Fire".
Check out those moves!
