dragon on the ceiling at Kencho-ji's Hatto in Kamakura - painted by Junsaku Koizumi to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the temple

As we enter 2012, I have to say that I don’t think there is anyone in Japan who is sorry to see the end of 2011. I’m not suggesting that the memory of March 11 and the impact of March 11 can be left behind or somehow easily overcome because the date has changed, but there is definitely something positive about turning the page on the figurative calendar and feeling the hope, possibility and potential of a new year in front of you.

Wishing you all a fantastic 2012!

The Sumida River taken from Kachidoki Bridge

This is a stitch of five separate shots, which the app processes pretty quickly. If you have not held the phone in exactly the same position, you can then crop off any excess space around the image that did not align.

The actual output is a large image, which you can see here (but it’s 3228 x 1372, so there’s scrolling involved). I cropped it down to 1800 x 765 for on-screen viewing, which is here (or, again, you can click the image above).

In the photo, Tsukiji market is on the right (where the yellow boat is) and, behind Tsukiji, that clump of buildings is the Shiodome area. So that you can visualize the location in the context of central Tokyo, this Google map shows where the shot was taken from (the little “A” marker):

Click on map for the actual Google version

I live about a 5-minute walk from the Sumida river and I love being so close to what is, in many ways, a vital element in the history of Tokyo. The whole city was originally built up around the Sumida and, if you’ve never walked along its banks from Chuo-ku to up to Taito-ku, you are missing a big chunk of what has shaped this city since two brothers dragged a statue of the Kannon out of the river 1,380 years ago:

On 18 March 628, two fishermen hauling their catch from the Sumida river found a golden image trapped in the nets. The Hinokuma brothers, credited with finding the statue of Kannon, goddess of mercy, are remembered in Asakusa Shrine, next to the present Asakusa Kannon temple, also known as Senso-ji. Built to house the statue and dedicated in 635, it is the oldest temple in Japan.
(excerpt from Tokyo: A Cultural History, by Stephen Mansfield – a great read on Tokyo)

At the very least, if you don’t want to walk the banks of the Sumida, you should definitely hop on the Suijo-Bus and cruise up the river from Hinode Pier to Asakusa (despite the name, it is not a “bus”, but, instead, a river boat that cruises up to Asakusa at least once an hour).

9AM outside the Ginza Apple Store doors - from this angle, all looks almost normal

I had to go to Tokyo station earlier this morning and, because I live nearby, I thought I’d stroll back through Ginza on my way home and see what was happening outside the Apple store at the iPhone 4S launch.

I approached from the back of the line, which started way back – a few blocks from the store:

a tired-looking Apple Store staff-member resting on boxes of water

the line from the front end - looking down towards Ginza 1-chōme

After taking the shot above, I continued walking and literally a few doors down I passed the window of a small book store which really explains quite a bit about the level of Apple obsession in Japan:

magazines in the window a few doors down from the Apple Store in Ginza

Just before 9AM, the line stretched a few blocks, basically from Ginza 1-chōme station to the Apple store. The time says 9:20 because I mapped it out after I’d left the area, and I basically decided to map it out because I’m endlessly intrigued by the fact that people will actually line up overnight for consumer goods in 2011.

approximate length of the line as I strolled by

Obviously, as you can see from the map image, I’m an iPhone user, but NOTHING would motivate me to line up for an electronic device. In fact, it reminds me of the pictures from Russia that fascinated me as a kid: people lining up for scarce goods at GUM, except, as noted, people in the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras were lining up for things that were scarce. Today, in wealthy so-called developed nations, we have people lining up for items that are essentially commoditized. It’s truly bizarre.

]]> http://blog.tokyololas.com/apple-iphone-4s-launch-tokyo-ginza/feed/ 1 http://blog.tokyololas.com/tokyo-time-unknown/ http://blog.tokyololas.com/tokyo-time-unknown/#comments Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:03:35 +0000 Laura http://blog.tokyololas.com/?p=1394 I don’t usually do too much with textures, but I was organizing my computer desktop files and found this (which I processed quite a long time ago) and thought I’d post it (click on the image for a MUCH larger version).

Contemporary Tokyo looking rather aged...

This shot was taken from the “Sky Lounge” in our building, which is basically a big common lounge area with a view of the bay, the Rainbow Bridge, and the city.

The water in the immediate foreground is the mouth of the Sumida river and the green space on the right is Hamarikyu Gardens (浜離宮 – はまりきゅう), which is the site of a 17thC Tokugawa family villa that was opened as a public garden in the early 1950s. You can see the tidal pond (salt-water pond) which is within the park and quite famous.

Tokyo Tower is also visible (half obscured by a building near JR Hamamatsucho station) and behind it is the Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills.

As for the image itself, it is 3 shots layered (-2/0/+2 exposure), tonemapped with Photomatix, desaturated in Lightroom, imported into Photoshop, and blended with a layer of craquelure texture (opacity reduced to about 20%).

In 2009, I shot this and you can see that there is a construction crane on the left side of the frame. At the time, I was curious to know what, if any, of our view of the Sumida-gawa fireworks would remain when the crane had done its work and the new residential building was in place:

2009 shot of the fireworks over the Sumida River

To be honest, I’m not overly interested in the Sumida fireworks display – they’re just slightly too far away to be exciting, but it is nice to see the night sky aglow on a summer’s eve.

This year, as a result of the triple disaster on March 11, the Sumida fireworks date was pushed to the end of August (it’s usually in late July) and the Tokyo Bay fireworks were not held at all.

Historically, the Sumida display is quite interesting: apparently, 1732 was a bad year in Edo (the old name for Tokyo) with famine and disease wiping out a good chunk of the population. The following year, the shogunate held a ceremony on the Sumida dedicated to the water god and to pray for better fortune and for the souls of all those who’d died the previous year. Restaurants near the Ryogoku Bridge asked for consent to shoot off some fireworks during this ceremony and the tradition began.

As you can see from the photo above, there are actually two stages on the river, so there’s double your viewing pleasure if you’re in the area or have an unobstructed view.

Well, as you can see, that’s no longer the case from our balcony: the apartment building’s complete and we’re left with one tiny corner on the left, where the unobstructed view used to be, and the other partially obstructed display in the middle.

That’s one thing about Tokyo: you can never get attached to your view because the landscape never stays the same for long in this city!