This is Thursday, and today the class schedule is a bit different. Most of the class have a meeting they must go to that will take up more than an hour early in the morning, and so yesterday we agreed that the class would start at ten-thirty. I have checked, and Tokyo Tower opens at nine, so I will go there on my way to work, go up in the tower and take some pictures, and then head to the office. This will be another "nostalgia" trip for me, as I visited Tokyo Tower almost thirty-five years ago on my stop here after Korea.

Getting to Tokyo Tower

Getting to the tower, or at least close to it, is pretty straightforward. I left the hotel via my normal route, and took the same train into Otemachi Station. But there, I had to transfer to a different line so that I could head southwest four or five stops to the one closest to the tower.

So at Otemachi, I headed off to a different platform for a different line. Either this line carries more commuters or the early hour was a factor, but this particular platform was clogged with commuters, as you'll see when you play the movie at left. As the train I needed to take pulled in, full of passengers, I took a picture of the subway attendant. Early on, I thought these were security guards, but they actually work for each subway line, and are dressed in different uniforms, and are more like troubleshooters- resolving bottlenecks and helping passengers. I never actually saw them push commuters into the cars, though.

My train pulled in, and a a horde of commuters got off (see movie below). As soon as the way was clear, I and many other folks boarded the train (see movie below). When we got to the station nearest to Tokyo Tower, many of us got off and headed for the exit up to the street (see movie below). Fortunately, as soon as we got outside the ticket machines there was a sign telling me which exit stair to use- stairway A1, as you can see. I have seen this particular type of sign before, and they are very helpful for tourists and locals alike.

Getting Off a Train Boarding the Train

Heading for the Exit

When I came up out of the subway, I found myself at this intersection with an elaborate pedestrian overpass. I could actually see the tower from where I was standing, so I knew which direction to go. As I walked along the street, I passed what looked like a small shrine. I wasn't sure what it was, and I might have stopped there, but it seemed to be closed. About a block down the street, I came to the main entry drive for the Tokyo Prince Hotel, shown here with the tower behind it. I suppose I should have walked around the hotel to the tower, but it seemed certain to me that I ought to be able to go through the hotel to get there; I was sure that the hotel would have an entrance on the other side as well, if only for the convenience of its guests.

So I started walking up the driveway to the hotel, making a movie as I went (watch it with the player at left). It turned out that I was right, and going through the hotel was the shortest way to get to the tower.

Mid-Level Observation Deck

As soon as I got to the base of the tower, I began to remember what it had been like so many years ago. It is impressive now, but it was even more so then, as the tallest thing I had been in up to that point was the Seattle Space Needle. Now, having been to the top of the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building and, most of all, the open top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, Tokyo Tower seems less impressive, but of course it isn't. I was early getting here; the tower did not open until nine, so I had a few minutes to wander around. I occupied some of that time by making a movie of the base of Tokyo Tower, and you can watch it with the player at left.

When the tower opened, there were only a few people waiting to get in, but there was also a small group of girls who were apparently here on a class outing. I got in the first elevator, the one to the mid-level observation deck, and it started up through the tower. I made a movie of our ascent that you will probably enjoy watching (with the player at right).

At the first observation deck midway up the tower, I found myself in a large, square room with windows on all sides for unobstructed viewing in all directions- very reminiscent of the Seattle Space Needle or the John Hancock Building. I walked around all four sides taking picture after picture, all of which I thought showed something interesting.

You can see a great deal of central Tokyo in these pictures, including a number of interesting things on the ground. There are two businesses that make gravestones and markers. There is a broad-roofed shrine or sports building of some kind. There are athletic fields, street intersections and, of course, building after building (one of which, incidentally, looks like a shorter version of the Sears Tower and which was one of the most massive that I saw here in Tokyo). When I was on Google maps, I also found it interesting how my pictures matched up with the aerial views (although there have been some changes, apparently). I have included an aerial view at the left for you to do the same thing, and I have noted some of the ground features that you can pick out in the various pictures that I took.

From this level, I took a number of pictures of the cityscape around me, and I want you to have a look at them.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

I basically walked around the lobby at this level taking pictures in all directions, and most of them turned out decently. Rather than use a bunch of thumbnails, I've put a dozen of the best pictures into a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

I also made two movies here as I walked around the perimeter of the observation deck, and you can watch them with the players below:

Views East and South Views North and West

Top-Level Observation Deck

The view from the top-level observation deck.

Getting up to the top-level observation deck required a different elevator.

From the deck where I am now, I had to walk upstairs to the next elevator, and you can use the player at right to watch me doing so.

lobby. It wasn't long before an elevator arrived and I, accompanied by some of the class of young schoolgirls, began our ascent to the top. I made a movie in the elevator, and you can watch it with the player at left.

Once there, in a smaller round observation room, I was once again presented with a panoramic vista of most of central Tokyo. It was unfortunate that today's air quality was not so good as yesterday's, but I still got some excellent pictures. One that I want to make sure you see is the telephoto view at left. I know it's hazy, but you are looking directly towards where I have been working, across the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Since I could see the tower from the restaurant yesterday, it only made sense the the reverse would be true.

So, again, I have a number of pictures that you can look at. You may not want to look at all of them, but I think that the ones you do look at will be of interest.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

What impressed me was that the city of Tokyo seemed to go on as far as you could see, from horizon to horizon, and that is a view that I have never seen before- even from the skyscrapers in Manhattan.

I again walked around the lobby at this level taking pictures in all directions, and, again, giving you scads of thumbnails would make it time-consuming for you to look at them. So I've put another dozen of the best pictures in to another slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

It has been an amazing visit, again, but before I leave I want to take some movies from this level of the tower. I took three movies which, together, show you the complete 360-degree view from here at the top of Tokyo Tower. You can watch these movies by using the players below:

Well, now for the trip down. I walked down one floor to the upper elevator lobby, waited for it to arrive, and then rode it down to the lower observation deck. There, I changed elevators and rode down to ground level. You can follow my progress with the three movies below:

The Upper Elevator Lobby Riding the First Elevator Down

Riding Down to Ground Level

I did need to get on to work, but I waited a few minutes at the base of the tower for another friendly-looking tourist to arrive so that I could ask them to take a picture of me at the base of Tokyo Tower. Then it was back to the subway and north to AG-TECH and another day of teaching.

	September 3, 2004: Japan Trip Day 7
	September 1, 2004: Japan Trip Day 5
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