# Colors of Japan (my tours around Japan)



## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*from my thread at Philippine forum*
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=586726

*Asakusa and Ueno* Dec. 8, 2007

*Asakusa*
Asakusa is on the north-east fringe of Central Tokyo, at the Eastern end of the Ginza subway line, approximately one mile east of the major Ueno railway/subway interchange. It is central to the area colloquially referred to as Shitamachi (not an official designation), which literally means "low city," referring to the low elevation of this old part of Tokyo, on the banks of the Sumida River. As the name suggests, the area has a less frenetic and more traditionally Japanese atmosphere than some other neighbourhoods of Tokyo

With so many religious establishments in the area, there are frequent matsuri (Shinto festivals) in Asakusa, as each temple or shrine hosts at least one matsuri per year, if not per season. The largest and most popular is the Sanja Matsuri in late spring, in which roads are closed from dawn until late in the evening.

In a city where there are very few buildings older than 50 years (owing to wartime bombing), Asakusa has a greater concentration of 1950s-60s buildings than most other areas of Tokyo. There are traditional ryokan (guest-houses), homes, and small-scale apartment buildings dotted throughout the district.

In keeping with a peculiarly Tokyo tradition, Asakusa hosts a major cluster of domestic kitchenware stores on Kappabashi-dori, which is visited by many Tokyoites for essential supplies.

Next to the Sensō-ji temple grounds is a small carnival complex with rides, booths, and games, called Hanayashiki. The neighborhood theatres specialize in showing classic Japanese films, as many of the tourists are elderly Japanese.

Cruises down the Sumida River depart from a wharf only a five minute walk from the temple.

Because of its colorful location, downtown credentials, and relaxed atmosphere (by Tokyo standards), Asakusa is a popular accommodation choice for budget travellers.

Asakusa is also home to one of the geisha districts in Tokyo.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)




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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Ueno*
Ueno (上野) is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Station and Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Science Museum, as well as a major public concert hall. Many Buddhist temples are in the area, including the Bentendo temple dedicated to goddess Benzaiten, on an island in Shinobazu Pond. The Kan'ei-ji, a major temple of the Tokugawa shoguns, stood in this area, and its pagoda is now within the grounds of the Ueno Zoo. Nearby is the Ueno Tōshōgū, a Shinto shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Just south of the station is the Ameyayokocho, a street market district that evolved out of an open-air black market that sprung up after World War II. Just east is the motorcycle specialty district, with English-speaking staff available in some stores.

Ueno is in the historical Shitamachi, literally "down-town" district of Japan, a working class area rather than where the aristocrats and rich merchants lived. Today the immediate area, due to its close proximity to a major transportation hub, retains high land value but just a short walk away to the east or north reveals some of the less glitzy architecture of Tokyo.

Ueno Park and Ueno Station are also home to a large percentage of Tokyo's homeless population. Though nearly invisible in other parts of Tokyo, the homeless population in Ueno can be found sleeping or communing in large numbers around the "ike" (ponds) of this district

*Ueno Park*
Ueno Park (上野公園, Ueno Kōen?) is a spacious public park located in the Ueno section of Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It occupies the site of the former Kan'eiji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns, who had built the temple to guard Edo Castle against the northeast. The temple was destroyed during the Boshin War.

Ueno Park was established through an imperial land grant to the city of Tokyo by Emperor Taishō in 1924. The official name of the park is Ueno Onshi Kōen (上野恩賜公園, Ueno Onshi Kōen?), which can be translated as "Ueno Imperial Gift Park".


Statue of Saigo TakamoriA famous statue of Saigō Takamori walking his dog stands in this park.

Three museums (Tokyo National Museum, The National Science Museum and The National Museum of Western Art ) a concert hall, a Toshogu shrine, the Shinobazu Pond with its Benzaiten shrine, and the Ueno Zoo make this area a tourist and recreation area popular with both Japanese and foreigners.


Steam locomotive in front of the National Science Museum.Ueno Park and its surroundings figure prominently in Japanese fiction, including Gan (The Wild Goose) by Mori Ōgai.

Ueno Park is also home to many homeless people.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)




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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Shinjuku*
Shinjuku (新宿区, Shinjuku-ku?) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the busiest train station in the world (Shinjuku Station), and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration centre for the government of Tokyo.

Surrounding Shinjuku Station are department stores, specialist electronic and camera shops, cinemas, restaurants and bars. Many international hotels are located here.

As of 2005, the ward has an estimated population of 305,352 and a density of 16,710 persons per km². The total area is 18.23 km².[1]

Shinjuku has the highest numbers of registered foreign nationals of any community in Tokyo. As of October 1, 2005, 29,353 people with 107 nationalities were registered in Shinjuku.

Places in Shinjuku include

Ichigaya: A commercial area in eastern Shinjuku, site of the Ministry of Defense. 
Golden Gai: An area of tiny shanty-style bars and clubs. Musicians, artists, actors and directors gather here, and the ramshackle walls of the bars are literally plastered with movie posters. 
Kabukichō: A district well-known for bars, restaurants and red-light district with street prostitutes, brothels, and other sexual commerce. Located northeast of Shinjuku Station. 
Nishi-shinjuku: Tokyo's largest skyscraper district. Several of the tallest buildings in Tokyo are located in this area, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, KDDI Building and Park Tower. Located west of Shinjuku Station. 
Ōkubo: Tokyo's best-known Korean district. 
Shinanomachi: On the southern edge of Shinjuku, close to the National (Olympic) Stadium, and Meiji-Jingu Stadium (where the Yakult Swallows baseball team plays). 
Shinjuku Gyoen is a large park, 58.3 hectares, 3.5 km in circumference, blending Japanese traditional, English Landscape and French Formal style gardens. 
Shinjuku ni-chōme: Tokyo's best-known gay district. 
Waseda: Surrounding Waseda University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan. Nearby Takadanobaba is a major student residential and nightlife area. 

History
In 1634, during the Edo period, as the outer moat of the Edo Castle was built, a number of temples and shrines moved to the Yotsuya area on the western edge of Shinjuku. In 1698, Naitō Shinjuku had developed as a new (shin) station (shuku or juku) on the Kōshū Kaidō, one of the major highways of that era. Naitō was a daimyo whose mansion stood in the area; his land is now a public park, the Shinjuku Gyoen.

Shinjuku began to develop into its current form after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, since the seismically stable area largely escaped the devastation. Consequently, West Shinjuku is one of the few areas in Tokyo with many skyscrapers.

The Tokyo air raids from May to August 1945 destroyed almost 90% of the buildings in the area in and around Shinjuku Station. [2] The pre-war form of Shinjuku, and the rest of Tokyo, for that matter, was retained after the war because the roads and rails, damaged as they were, remained, and these formed the heart of the Shinjuku in the post-war construction. Only in Kabuki-cho was a grand reconstruction plan put into action. (Ichikawa, 2003)

The present ward was established on March 15, 1947, with the merger of the former wards of Yotsuya, Ushigome, and Yodobashi.

In 1991, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government moved from the Marunouchi district of Chiyoda to the current building in Shinjuku. (The Tokyo International Forum stands on the site vacated by the government.)


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

The NS Building, recognizable by its rainbow elevator shafts




































Yasuda Kasai kaijo Building


















U/C Cocoon Tower


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Odawara* October 14, 2007
Odawara (小田原市, Odawara-shi?) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. The city was founded on December 20, 1940. Odawara has had a sister city relationship with Chula Vista, CA for over 25 years. Odawara also has an active friendship with Manly, New South Wales in Australia, which includes an annual mutual student exchange program for secondary school students.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 199,463 with a population density of 1,748.3 persons per km² (4,533 persons per square mile). The total area is 114.09 km² (44 square miles).

History
Odawara-juku's strategic location on the Tōkaidō, between mountainous Hakone and Sagami Bay, has given it a key role in Japanese history. Prior to the Edo period, Odawara Castle was the stronghold of the Late Hōjō clan warriors. During the Edo, its castle controlled the Tōkaidō between the Tokugawa headquarters at Edo and the stations west of Hakone, including Sumpu, Hamamatsu and Nagoya. Today, a reproduction of the castle stands high on a hill above the city.

On August 15, 1945, Odawara was the last city in Japan to be bombed by Allied aircraft.

Attractions
Besides Odawara Castle, this area is a major transit point for the Hakone hot springs resort area.

Enoura, a coastal district in Odawara known for its pristine sea, has an abundance of kumamomi, a type of fish which prefers clear and clean water. Sea turtles are also sometimes present there. Because of the clear water and plentiful undersea life, many people come to Enoura for diving.

The area of Odawara around Kamonomiya Station, has restaurants, stores, and the only movie theatres in the city.



















Odawara *eki*/train station




























*Odawara Castle*
Odawara Castle (小田原城, Odawara-jō?) is a landmark in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was the stronghold of various daimyo during the Muromachi period of Japanese history. From 1495 onward, five generations of the Late Hōjō clan held the castle.[1] Odawara Castle had very strong defenses, because it was situated on a hill, surrounded by moats with water on the low side, and dry ditches on the hill side, with banks, walls and cliffs located all around the castle, enabled the defenders to repel attacks by the great warriors Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took the castle in 1590, and awarded the holdings of the Hōjō to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who in turn installed the Okubo clan at Odawara.

During the Edo period, Odawara's strategic location on the Tōkaidō, between mountainous Hakone and Sagami Bay, gave it great strategic importance. As the home to Odawara-juku, the castle controlled the Tōkaidō between the Tokugawa headquarters at Edo and the stations west of Hakone, including Sumpu, Hamamatsu and Nagoya.

Eventually, Odawara Castle was destroyed by Meiji government. However, present Odawara Castle was rebuilt in 1960. It serves as a museum and is designated as an important historical monument. Today, a reproduction of the castle stands high on a hill above Odawara.

The history of Odawara-jo actually began in the Kamakura Period with a palace built by Dohi Sanehira. Hojo Soun conquered the area and stole the mansion in 1495. He built his castle on the site of the former palace and his family reigned over Odawara-jo until it was conquered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590. The final step in Hideyoshi's reunification of Japan was his victory at Odawara. 









you can see the castle from the eki


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)




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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

the city


















inside the *Odawara eki*


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Kamakura* and *Hase-dera* Oct. 13, 2007
Kamakura (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi?) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 km south-south-west of Tokyo (to which it is linked by the railway line to Yokosuka).

It is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan, as the seat of the Regent and Shogunate during the Kamakura Period. According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems,[1] Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 A.D., with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsing Kyoto by 1200 A.D.

As of December 1, 2005, the city has an estimated population of 171,241 and a density of 4,324.27 persons per km². The total area is 39.60 km².

Kamakura was designated as a city on November 3, 1939.

Surrounded by mountains on three sides and the open water of Sagami Bay on the fourth, Kamakura is a natural fortress. During the Heian period it was the chief city of the Kantō region, and from the 12th through 14th centuries the Minamoto shoguns ruled Japan from here under what is known as the Kamakura Shogunate.

Kamakura is now mainly known for its temples and shrines. Kōtoku-in, with the monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, is the most famous of these. A 15th Century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since. Magnificent Zen temples like Kencho-ji and Engaku-ji; the Tokei-ji (a nunnery that was a refuge for women who wanted to divorce their husbands); the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine; the Hase-dera, an ancient Kannon temple; the graves of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Hōjō Masako; and the Kamakura-gu where Prince Morinaga was executed, top the list of Kamakura's most famous historical and religious sites.

Kamakura has a beach which, in combination with the temples and the proximity to Tokyo, makes it a popular tourist destination. The city is well-provided with restaurants and other tourist-oriented amenities.

Kamakura is home to a microbrewery. The beer produced is only available locally and in bottles, and the range includes a pale ale, a pilsner style lager, and a stout.[2]

Kamakura is also noted for its senbei, which are crisp rice cakes grilled and sold fresh along the main shopping street. These are very popular with tourists, especially Japanese tourists.

Kamakura is also the terminal for the Enoshima Electric Railway, locally known as "Eno-den". This traditional narrow gauge railway runs to Fujisawa, to the west, and part of its route runs parallel to the seashore.

Sagamino *eki*








Sotetsu *densha*/train will take me to Yamato. My connecting route to Fujisawa.

Fujisawa-*shi*/city


















Enoden Line will take me to Hase station, the station nearest to the *Buddha of Kamakura*.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Harajuku* Feb. 28, 2008
Harajuku (原宿 "meadow lodging") listen is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The area is known internationally for its youth style and fashion.Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Fruits.

Harajuku is an area between Shinjuku and Shibuya. Local landmarks include the headquarters of NHK, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park.

The area has two main shopping streets, Omotesandō and Takeshita-dōri. The latter caters to youth fashions and has many small stores selling Gothic Lolita, visual kei, rockabilly, hip-hop, and punk outfits, in addition to fast food outlets and so forth.

In recent years Omotesandō has seen a rise in branches of expensive fashion stores such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Prada. The avenue is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo's Champs-Élysées".Until 2004, one side of the avenue was occupied by the Dōjunkai Aoyama apāto, Bauhaus-inspired apartments built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake. In 2006 the buildings were controversially destroyed by Mori Building and replaced with the "Omotesando Hills" shopping mall, designed by Tadao Ando. The area known as "Ura-Hara" (back streets of Harajuku) is a center of Japanese fashion for younger people — brands such as A Bathing Ape and Undercover have shops in the area.

Harajuku *eki*









*Yoyogi Park*
Yoyogi Park (代々木公園, Yoyogi kōen?) is one of the largest parks in Tokyo, located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Shibuya.

What is now Yoyogi Park was the site of the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan, on December 19, 1910, by Captain Yoshitoshi Tokugawa, following which it became an army parade ground. During the postwar occupation, it was the site of the Washington Heights residence for U.S. officers. It later was selected as the site for the 1964 Summer Olympics, and the distinctive Olympic buildings designed by Kenzo Tange are still nearby. In 1967, it was made into a city park.

Today, the park is a popular hangout, especially on Sundays, when it is used as a gathering place for people to play music, practice martial arts, etc. The park has a bike path, and bicycle rentals are available. As a consequence of Japan's long recession, there are several large, but surprisingly quiet and orderly, homeless camps around the park's periphery. These are somewhat like the Hoovervilles during the Great Depression in the USA.

Recently, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara announced plans to build a 100,000-capacity stadium in Yoyogi Park in order to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Yoyogi park has a reasonably large fenced dog run, one of the few areas in Tokyo where dogs are allowed to be off leash. The dog run is located towards the western side of the park, inside the bicycle path, east of the parking lot at the western edge of the park. The dog run's ground is covered in wood chips, and the run is divided into two sections and contains a few benches.

Harajuku Yoyogi Park entrance









Yoyogi National Stadium, built for the 1964 Summer Olympics


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Kai-kozan Hase-dera* Oct. 13, 2007
Kaikōzan Hase-dera (海光山長谷寺) is one of the great Buddhist temples in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, famous for housing a massive wooden statue of Kannon.

The statue is the largest wooden statue in Japan, standing at 9.18 m tall, and is made from camphor wood and gilded in gold. It has 11 heads, each of which represents a different phase in the search for enlightenment. In medieval Japanese Buddhism, a common iconography depicted Kannon with eleven hands and often with a thousand arms.

According to legend, the statue is one of two images of Kannon carved by a monk named Tokudo in 721. The camphor tree was so large, according to legend, that Tokudo decided that he could carve two statues with it. One was enshrined in the Hasedera in the city of Nara, Yamato Province, while the other was set adrift in the sea to find the place that it had a karmic connection with. It washed ashore on Nagai Beach on the Miura Peninsula near Kamakura in the year 736. The statue was immediately brought to Kamakura where a temple was built to honor it.

The temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of Jodo Shu sect.

The temple also commands an impressive view over Kamakura’s bay and is famous for its hydrangeas which bloom along the Hydrangea Path in June and July. The temple is built on two levels, as well as an underground cave. The cave, called benten kutsu cave, contains a long winding tunnel, with a low ceiling, and various statues and devotionals to Benzaiten, the sea goddess and the only female of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology.

Kaikozan Hase-dera is also part of the Kamakura and Bandō pilgrimages, both consisting of 33 sites, and is station 4 of the 33 temples of the Kanto Pilgrimage.

entrance is Y300


















wishing for good fortunes


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

cemetery


















the city of Kamakura


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Tokyo* and *Odaiba* March 1, 2008

*Tokyo*
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō), formally Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and, unique among the prefectures, provides certain municipal services characteristic of a city, as defined by Japanese law.

Because it is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family, Tokyo is the de facto capital of Japan. (The name of Tokyo means "eastern capital" in Japanese).

Tokyo is the most populous prefecture and city in the country. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, although each administratively a city in its own right, constitute the area informally considered as the "city of Tokyo" and are collectively one of the largest cities in the world with a total population of over 8 million people. The total population of the prefecture exceeds 12 million.

The Greater Tokyo Area, centered on Tokyo but also including Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 35 million people. It has been the world's most populous urban area since between 1965 and 1970, and despite Japan's overall declining population, is still growing.

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan gross domestic product in the world for a city, and it held the title of the world's most expensive city for over a decade from 1992 through 2005.

Tokyo is a major global city and megacity. The name "Tokyo" refers variously to Tokyo Metropolis (the prefecture) as a whole, or only to the main urban mass under its jurisdiction (thus excluding west Tama and Izu and Ogasawara Islands), or even the whole of Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Yamanashi prefectures, depending on context.

Tokyo was originally known as Edo, meaning estuary. Its name was changed to Tokyo (Tōkyō: tō (east) + kyō (capital)) when it became the de facto imperial capital in 1868. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same Chinese characters representing "Tokyo". Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei". This pronunciation is now obsolete.

Four national parks lie within Tokyo:

National Parks
Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, in Nishitama and spilling over into Yamanashi and Saitama Prefectures 
Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park, around Mount Takao to the south of Hachiōji 
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes all of the Izu Islands 
Ogasawara National Park. As of 2006, efforts were being made to make Ogasawara National Park a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site. 

Tokyo *eki*








Tokyo Station (東京駅, Tōkyō-eki?) is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district.

It is the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo, the busiest station in Japan in terms of number of trains per day (over 4,000), and the eighth-busiest in Japan in terms of passenger throughput. It is the starting point and terminus for most of Japan's Shinkansen (high-speed rail lines), and is served by many local and regional commuter lines of Japan Railways, as well as the Tokyo Metro network.

*Imperial Palace*, the residence of the Imperial Family
The Tokyo Imperial Palace (Kōkyo (皇居, Kōkyo) is the imperial palace of Japan and the residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is located in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo and is close to Tokyo Station. It is roughly the size of Central Park, which has an area of 3.41 squared kilometers.

After the Meiji Restoration and the resignation of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Tokugawa shogun, the Imperial court moved from Kyoto to Tokyo and the former Tokugawa stronghold of Edo castle became the residence of the emperor (the Kyoto Imperial Palace was preserved). From 1888 to 1948, it was called Kyūjō (宮城, "palace castle"). The palace precincts include the Three Palace Sanctuaries (Kyūchūsanden, 宮中三殿).

The original palace was not constructed on the grounds of the Shogun's palace, today the area of the East Garden. The palace was greatly damaged during World War II. The modern structures were built in the 1960's in a modernist style with clear Japanese architectural references. The buildings of the Imperial Palace were constructed by the Takenaka Corporation.

Most of the palace is generally off-limits to the public, but the Imperial Household Agency conducts tours. Also, the East Gardens are usually accessible to tourists. The inner palace is open to the public on only two days during each year, the Emperor's birthday and at the New Year (January 2).

Located on the grounds of the East Garden is the Museum of the Imperial Collections.

During the height of the 1980s Japanese property bubble, the palace was purportedly valued by some as equivalent to the value of all the real estate in the state of California.

thick walls surrounding the palace


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

outside the palace grounds


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*National Diet Building*
The National Diet Building (国会議事堂, Kokkai-gijidō) is the place where both houses of the Diet of Japan meet. It is located at 1-chome, Nagatachō, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the left wing and sessions of the House of Councillors in the right wing.

The Diet Building was completed in 1936 and is constructed entirely out of Japanese building materials.

The construction of the building began in 1920; however, plans for the building date back to the late 1880s. The Diet met in temporary structures for the first fifty years of its existence because there was no agreement over what form its building should take.

Early designs
German architects Wilhelm Bockmann and Hermann Ende were invited to Tokyo in 1886 and 1887, respectively. They drew up two plans for a Diet building. Bockmann's initial plan was a masonry structure with a dome and flanking wings, similar to other legislatures of the era, which would form the core of a large "government ring" south of the Imperial Palace. However, at the time there was public resistance in Japan to Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru's internationalist policies, and so the architects submitted a more "Japanese" design as well, substituting traditional Japanese architectural features for many parts of the building. Ende and Bockmann's Diet Building was never built, but their other "government ring" designs were used for the Tokyo District Court and Ministry of Justice buildings.

In 1898, Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi interviewed American Ralph Adams Cram, who proposed a more "Oriental" design for the building, featuring tiled roofs and a large enclosure of walls and gates. The Itō government fell as Cram was en route to the United States, and the project was dropped.


First building (1890) and second building (1891)
With an internal deadline approaching, the government enlisted Ende and Bockmann associate Adolph Stegmueller and Japanese architect Yoshii Shigenori to design a temporary structure. The building, a two-story, European-style wooden structure, opened in November 1890 on a site in Hibiya.

An electrical fire burned down the first building in January 1891, only two months later. Another Ende and Bockmann associate, Oscar Tietze, joined Yoshii to design its replacement. The second building was larger than the first, but followed a similar design: it housed the Diet until 1925.


Current building
In 1910, the Finance Ministry started a commission in an attempt to take control over the new Diet Building design from the Home Ministry. Prime Minister Katsura Tarō chaired the commission, which recommended that the new building emulate an Italian Renaissance architectural style. This recommendation was criticized by many who thought that choice to be too arbitrary.

The ministry sponsored a public design competition in 1918, and 118 designs were submitted for the new building. The first prize winner, Watanabe Fukuzo, produced a design similar to Ende and Bockmann's.

The Diet Building was eventually constructed with a floor plan based on Watanabe's entry. The roof and tower of the building were inspired by another entrant, third prize winner Takeuchi Shinshichi, and are believed to have been chosen because they reflected a more modern hybrid architecture than the purely European and East Asian designs proposed by other architects.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

to *Odaiba*

Yurakucho *eki*/station









inside the train









Shin-kiba *eki*









Shimbashi station of Yurikamome monorail


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Fuji TV Building*
Lit by lasers at night, the head office of Fuji Television is the landmark of Odaiba. The building was designed by Japanese Architect, Kenzo Tange. It's fully earthquake proof and took three years to build.

The ball on top of the building weighs a colossal one thousand two hundred tons! With a diameter of thirty two meters it was first constructed on the roof of the smaller building, then on April 17th 1995, using a special technique it was raised into position.

Inside there are ten studios. Tickets for a studio tour are available from the booth at the top of the escalator. The same ticket also gains you access to the inside of the ball. (Adults 500 yen, children 300 yen 10:00 am to 8:00pm daily).

Fuji Television Network, Inc. (株式会社フジテレビジョン, Kabushiki Gaisha Fuji Terebijon?) TYO: 4676 is a Japanese television network based in Odaiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Fuji TV (フジテレビ, Fuji Terebi?) or CX. It is the flagship TV station of Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (フジネットワーク, Fuji Network System?) or FNS. It also has a relationship with Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc.

The headquarters is located at 2-4-8, Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The Kansai office is found at Aqua Dojima East, Dojima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. The Nagoya office is found at Telepia, Higashi-sakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, Japan.

Brief history
On November 18, 1951, Fuji Television was founded. On March 1, 1959, Fuji TV started TV broadcasting, and made a network with Tokai TV, Kansai TV and Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting in June. In October 1966, a news network of exchanging news with local stations with the name of FNN (Fuji News Network) was formed. On April 1, 1986, the logo mark was changed (Channel 8 → Medama). On March 10, 1997, the headquarters moved from Kawadacho, Shinjuku-ku to Odaiba, Minato-ku.

Since 2002, Fuji TV has co-sponsored the Clarion Girl contest, held annually to select a representative for Clarion who will represent Clarion's car audio products in television and print advertising campaigns during the following year.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

a hotel, I forgot the name


















Ariake Coliseum


















*Tokyo Big Sight*
Tokyo Big Sight (東京ビッグサイト, Tōkyō Biggu Saito) is the popular nickname for the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (東京国際展示場, Tōkyō Kokusai Tenjijō), a Japanese convention center that opened in April 1996.[1] Located in Odaiba of Tokyo Bay, the center is one of the largest convention venues within the city, and its most iconic representation the visually-distinctive Conference Tower.

Contracted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Finance, the construction of the entire site was handled by eight contractors in total, among them companies such as the Hazama and Shimizu Corporations. Construction efforts began in October 1992 and were finalized in October 1996, the contract in total worth no less than 40,392 million Yen. A considerable 45% of that sum went towards the sole handler of the Tower segment, the Hazama Corporation.

The former Governor of Tokyo, Shunichi Suzuki, had the honour of commencing the 1994 lifting-up ceremony on June 30, which initiated the operation of raising the Tower's 6500-ton main structure above ground, a process which took three days to complete using a computer-guided system that precisely jacked the structure up into place. A 250-ton aerial escalator was installed later to formally link the raised structure to the ground floors.

Located within Ariake of the Kōtō special ward in Tokyo, the Big Sight's most distinctive feature is the unique architecture of its 58 m-high eight-storey Conference Tower. The site utilizes steel frame with reinforced concrete construction, boasting a total floor area of 230,873 m² which outsizes Makuhari Messe's floor space by half, and of which 35% is indoors. The convention center is divided into three main areas, each with their own supporting facilities such as restaurants: The East Exhibition Hall, the West Exhibition Hall and the Conference Tower.

The thing most associated with the Tokyo Big Sight name, the glass and titanium-panelled Conference Tower appears as a set of four inverted pyramids mounted upon large supports. The first floor comprises a 1100-seat reception hall and four conference rooms of varying size. The second floor comprises the Entrance Plaza which is the main access area, the glass-roofed Event Plaza, the Entrance Hall which leads to the exhibition halls proper, and the Exhibition Plaza. There are no floors three through five due to the structure's above-ground stature.

Floors six and seven can be directly accessed via escalator from the second-floor Entrance Hall, and comprise the main convention facilities of the Tower. The sixth floor houses ten conference rooms of small to medium size, some of which can be merged into larger spaces by removing intervening partitions. Floor seven houses the 1000-seat International Conference Room as well as three conference rooms of much smaller size. Floor eight houses five conference rooms.

Scattered around the Tower's vicinity are public art pieces, most of which are works by international artists such as Claes Oldenberg and his wife Coosje Van Bruggen, Michael Craig-Martin and Lee U-Fan. These include a giant sculpture of a saw, a large stylized pond and three marble beds.


East Exhibition Hall

The central GalleriaThe East Exhibition Hall's main layout consists of a central 600 m-long two-tiered galleria, flanked on both sides by three mostly-identical exhibition halls, and has underground parking available. The overall height of the structure is three storeys, with the galleria reaching two storeys. The glass-roofed galleria is equipped with moving walkways for easier movement, food outlets, escalators, electronic signboards and a host of other relevant facilities.

Each hall has a mobile roof that enables exhibitors to control the amount of sunlight coming through, recessed electronic and control service pits at regular intervals (six meters), a show office, four meeting rooms and a dressing room. It is possible to merge a hall with adjacent halls on the same side, allowing for a maximum continuous floor space three times the capacity of a single hall, or a grand total of 26,010 m².

Unlike its West counterpart, the East Exhibition Hall is not located next to the main Conference Tower area.


West Exhibition Hall

The Atrium on a busy dayThe West Exhibition Hall's layout consists of four internal halls surrounding a central two-tiered Atrium. Halls one and two occupy the first floor, and are each equipped with a single meeting room, two show offices and seven meeting rooms. If necessary, they can be merged with the glass-roofed atrium area to maximize all available exhibition space. Halls three and four are individually smaller than the first floor halls, as the rest of the space not taken up by the Atrium's upper area is largely the rooftop exhibition area.

Adjacent to the West Exhibition Hall is an outdoor exhibition area, which like the rooftop area overlooks the waterfront. Like the other exhibition areas in the Tokyo Big Sight, it is possible to combine both upper halls and both spaces together to create a single continuous floor area. All in all, the West Exhibition Hall boasts in total six show offices, twenty-three meeting rooms and three dressing rooms. The gross total floor area of the Hall stands at 46,280 m².


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Kawasaki*
Kawasaki (川崎市, Kawasaki-shi?) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan.

It is sandwiched between Tokyo and Yokohama to form part of Greater Tokyo, the most populous urban area in northern Kanagawa. It still exists without its own city subway system, however, the city is heavily rail based. The region where Kawasaki lies was originally part of Musashi Province, or Tokyo region (as opposed to Sagami associated with Kanagawa), as evidenced by the Nambu Line.

The city was founded on July 1, 1924 and was designated on April 1, 1972 by government ordinance.

Kawasaki occupies a belt of land stretching about 30 km along the south bank of the Tama River, which divides it from Tokyo prefecture, with the city of Yokohama immediately to the south.

The eastern end of the belt is flat, and much of it consists of heavily industrialised and densely built working-class areas, centered around JR Kawasaki Station. The reclaimed coastline of Tokyo Bay is occupied by vast heavy chemical industry complexes at the heart of the Keihin Industrial Area.

In contrast, its western suburbs occupy an area of hills known as Tama Hills and are mostly pleasant, often newly developed residential areas for people commuting to Tokyo. Shin-Yurigaoka station on the Odakyū Odawara Line serves as the regional hub of the western half of the city.

Despite its status as the 8th most populated city in Japan, it is often seen to lack an identity (and certainly a true city centre) of its own, due to the fact that it is effectively part of the huge Tokyo-Yokohama conurbation.

*Kawasaki Lazona Plaza*
LAZONA Kawasaki Plaza (ラゾーナ川崎プラザ, LAZONA Kawasaki Plaza?) is a Shopping mall in Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki, Japan. This mall connected by west side Kawasaki Station.



























*Kawasaki, Ikebukuro and Shibuya* May 26, 2008

Kawasaki Lazona Plaza









bus station at Kawasaki









*Ikebukuro*
Ikebukuro (池袋, Ikebukuro?), a part of Toshima ward, is a large commercial and entertainment district of Tokyo, Japan. It is the location of the Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station and several extremely large department stores.

At the center of Ikebukuro is the train and subway station, a huge urban gathering shared by the JR East lines, the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and the Tōbu Tōjō Main Line. It is one of the main commuter hubs in the western Yamanote area of Tokyo. Ikebukuro Station is the second busiest subway station in Japan, second only to Shinjuku Station. Approximately one million people pass through the station each day.

Around the station are the Seibu and Tōbu department stores. Seibu, written with the characters for "West" and "Musashi (province)" 西武, is on the east end of the station and Tōbu, written with the characters for "East" and "Musashi" 東武, is on the west end. East of the station, on the site of Sugamo Prison, stands Sunshine 60, which was Tokyo's tallest building at the time of its construction. Otome Road, a leading shopping area for otaku products aimed at women, is located nearby. Marui and Mitsukoshi also have department stores in the area. The principal electronics retailer in Ikebukuro is Bic Camera.

The old village of Ikebukuro stood to the northwest of the station. Most of the area on which modern Ikebukuro is built was historically known as Sugamo. In the Taishō and Shōwa periods, the relatively low land prices attracted artists and foreign workers, who lent a somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere to Ikebukuro. Until October 1, 1932 when Toshima ward was established, the area was an independent municipality of Ikebukuro-mura (池袋村).

The kanji for Ikebukuro literally means pond bag. Outside the west exit of Ikebukuro station near an entrance to the Yurakucho New Line is a small plaque explaining three origins of the name Ikebukuro. The first is that in the northeastern part of the village there was a lake shaped like someone holding a bag. The second is that there was once a large number of lakes in the area of various sizes (thus implying a bag full of lakes). The third is that long ago a turtle came out of the lake carrying a bag on its back.

There is a small statue of an owl located near the center of the city called Ikefukurō-zō (いけふくろう像), meaning lake owl statue. It may be a hint of the true origin of the name given to Ikebukuro, but it was more likely constructed as nothing more than a joke, a play on words and as a point of interest by the city administration. The play on words arises from the alternative meaning of 'fukuro' as 'owl' (although owl is pronounced with a long final 'oh', rather than a short 'o' in the word 'fukuro' for bag). Perhaps because of this, the owl statue has become a famous meeting place along the lines of the statue of Hachikō located outside of Shibuya Station.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Sunshine City Complex*
The Sunshine City Complex in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district is in a constant state of self-renewal. It is a modern business, shopping and entertainment complex that features the 60-story "Sunshine 60" building, the World Imports Mart, the Culture Hall with a theater and museum, International Aquarium, and the Alpa Shopping Center. Sunshine City Prince Hotels is at the heart of this complex.

With its stylish new look, the 1,166-room hotel rises 38 stories above the ground and dips three basement levels below. The Sunshine City Prince provides all the comfort, functionality and genuine hospitality you'd expect from an international hotel. (http://www.princehotelsjapan.com/SunshineCityPrinceHotel/index.asp0)










sky garden









*Sunshine City International Aquarium*
a zoo and oceanarium at the top of the building.


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Sunshine City Observatory* 60th floor


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Shinjuku*


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)

*Mt. Fuji*


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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)




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## benchjade (May 9, 2007)




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