Tokyobling's Blog

Tokyo City Hall

Posted in Places by tokyobling on April 27, 2010

Last week I took a walk around Shinjuku with a reader of this blog who happened to be in Tokyo. Naturally when in Shinjuku with a tourist, there is no better place to go than the observation decks at Tokyo city hall, free, fun and a great way to see just how huge this city is. I tried to persuade him to start using a polarizing filter when he shoots skylines but he didn’t buy my argument. How many buildings can you recognize?



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  1. rikigede said, on April 27, 2010 at 10:24 am

    my friend had her wedding ceremony here, in the observation deck of the 都庁 building, and it was one of the best tokyo night scenes ever

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    • tokyobling said, on April 28, 2010 at 12:53 am

      Hi Riki! I didn’t know people actually had their ceremonies there…! What a brilliant place for a wedding. Close to everything and convenient for everyone. Have to remember that one.

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  2. michaelpanda said, on April 27, 2010 at 10:36 am

    Oooh! I’ll play this game! I love shooting from that observation deck.

    Photo 1: Upshot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

    Photo 2: (Far Left) part of the other tower of the Metropolitan building (Left) Shinjuku Park Tower (Middle) Shidome City Centre / Tokyo Opera City Tower

    Photo 3: (brown triangular building in lower right): Daichi Seimei Building (curvy white building) Shinjuku Hilton (dark blue bldg above Shinjuku Hilton) Shinjuku Oak Tower (short green building with brown roof) Green Tower Building

    Photo 4: (white building on left) Keio Plaza Hotel (pointy spire in middle of frame) NTT Docomo Building (barely visible rounded building on horizon to right of NTT bldg) Mori Tower (All the other random white buildings) I have no idea 😀

    And who is this person who refuses the incredible magicks of a CP!? I never shoot landscapes without one…!

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    • tokyobling said, on April 28, 2010 at 12:56 am

      Excellent! I noticed you stayed with the closest buildings. Can you spot Nakano Sunplaza, the Nakano Ward Tax Office in photo 3? The only building in these photos a non-Tokyoite would have an even remote chance of picking out would be the Hyatt famous from the “Lost in Translation” movie, in photo 2. A movie which I still haven’t seen….

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  3. michaelpanda said, on April 27, 2010 at 10:40 am

    wait, I lied. Addendum to photo 4 – the other 3 random white buildings in the middle of the frame are (I believe) the Shinjuku Monolith, the KDDI Building and the NS Building, from left to right respectively.

    in the interest of full disclosure, I had to look up the names for the Shinjuku Monolith and NS building! 😛

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    • tokyobling said, on April 28, 2010 at 12:57 am

      Well done on the KDDI building! Most people would never have gotten that minor player. And the Docomo Tower is right behind it, in the distance.

      Maybe I should make these photos interactive? Hm… an idea for a rainy day… a name that building iPhone game/app!

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  4. originee said, on April 28, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    great pics! i love the clouds that were captured in the pictures. when i was in tokyo last year, i managed to visit the observation deck only at night. Not a good choice for photo taking.

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    • tokyobling said, on April 30, 2010 at 5:48 am

      Thanks Originiee! Yes, the large windows makes it tricky to do decent photography at night. I usually throw a large piece of black cloth over the camera and keep it as close to the window as possible. That way you’ll kill all the reflections! Next time try going there at 18.30 perhaps, best time to catch the sunset! Usually very crowded with tourists though…

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