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Well, it’s official: our hanabi view’s blocked

By on August 31, 2011 in japan, Travel

I think, for some reason which I can’t recall, I completely missed the fireworks over the Sumida river in 2010, so, this year, I wasn’t sure what kind of view we’d have.

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!

 

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Another Tokyo Sky Tree Construction Update

By on May 7, 2011 in japan, Photography, Travel

 

I actually started writing this post in the first week of March and then put it in my drafts folder and left it sitting there as we all became consumed with earthquake, tsunami aftermath, and nuclear plant news.

As anyone who looks at this blog regularly knows, I’ve done a few entries on the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree. My balcony faces it directly, so I’d been watching the tower climb over the months.

I haven’t taken any new photos of the Sky Tree since then, but it is not vastly different in appearance because these photos were taken just after it passed the 600 meter mark and about 2 weeks later it reached its final height of 634 meters.

Looking at it from the balcony, it’s hard to get a sense of how tall it really is, so, to mark the occasion of passing the 600 meter milestone, I took a quick trip over to the area and took a few photos. It was quite crowded and there was quite a buzz all around  and, I have to say, from the ground, looking up, it really is impressive.

 

Getting some close-ups of the Tokyo Sky Tree

 

Almost everyone was doing the same thing - just staring up to the sky

 

 

a close-up of the Tokyo Sky Tree observation deck construction

 

a height marker at the base of the tower

a man had a mirror set up so people could take pictures of themselves with the tower in the background

another angle

I love this picture!

old and new as I walked towards Asakusa

I’ve been remiss of late, but this is my return to the fabulous weekly Show Me Japan blog/photo extravaganza – click on the image below for more Japan blogging goodness:

 

 

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