18 August 2011
Sky high
Earlier this month, I moved to Sapporo city from Tokyo due to my work. I rode airplane to go to Sapporo. As soon as the airplane take-off from Haneda Airport I saw beautiful view of Tokyo. Top of Tokyo Sky Tree appeared from clouds which covered around Tokyo. I wish I could take that picture, but all of electric devices not be used at that time due to take-off. So, I couldn't take that... Anyway, today I will write about Tokyo Sky Tree.
Before I start to write about Tokyo Sky Tree, I would like to write a little about towers in Japan. The most famous tower in Japan is Tokyo Tower, I think. And I like this tower the most.
I took this picture near Daimon in Tokyo. Usually, Tokyo tower's colour is red, but this looks like blue due to light-up.
In Tokyo tower, there are 2 viewing room. One of them is main observatory at 120 metres-high. Another one is Special Observatory at 223 metres high, and view from this Special Observatory is amazing especially at night. You can see beautiful night view of Tokyo from here. It's worth to visit, if you come to Tokyo. Also, you can enjoy some amusements at the "Foottown" which is located at the bottom of tower.
Next, I would like to introduce you Yokohama Marine Tower.
It's located in Yokohama, and it was debuted as the world's highest lighthouse at that time. But now Yokohama Marine Tower don't have the function as lighthouse.
I also like this tower. But I don't like swing while winds blows. It's like ship-sick.
In April, I was working in Chiba prefecture. At that time, I found the building which stands near Tokyo Bay. I did't know about this tower until I saw this tower. This tower is called Chiba Marine Tower.
I felt, it's not looks like tower. But I heard it's tower.
I'm in Sapporo now, then I would like to introduce you Sapporo TV Tower.
I know about this tower, but I didn't know the name of it. Well, I felt it's not so high. But I believe, it's enough for its purpose.
Of course, there are more towers in Japan, but I picked up these 4 towers because I watched in this year.
Tokyo Sky Tree
So, let's check the new face.
Tokyo Sky Tree. Tokyo Sky Tree is 634 metre high. Now it's the highest tower in the world, the second highest structure in the world, and the highest structure in Japan. Well, it's still under the construction, and it will open in 22nd May, 2012.
Tokyo Sky Tree is located in Sumida, Tokyo. Which is the east side of Tokyo, and it's near Asakusa. The nearest station to Tokyo Sky Tree is Oshiage station, and now the town around Tokyo Sky Tree is under re-development. I think, new buildings and these kind of buildings will be appeared in next few years.
Viewing room
Of course, Tokyo Sky Tree will have viewing room (Observatory) but I felt the price is a little expensive.
1st observatory at 350 metres high will be 2,000 JPY (about 25 USD), and 2nd observatory at 450 metres high will be 3,000 JPY (about 39 USD). (Both for adult)
So, let's check other observatory prices near Tokyo.
Sunshine 60
Sunshine 60 is 60 stories high building in Ikebukuro, and the observatory is at 226.3 metres high (this is the highest observatory except sky decks in Tokyo). And the price is 620 JPY (about 8 USD).
Yokohama landmark tower
Yokohama Landmark Tower is at Minatomirai-21 area in Yokohama, and it's the highest building in Japan. The observatory is at 272 metres high and its price is 1000 JPY (about 12 USD).
Yokohama marine tower
I wrote about Yokohama Marine tower in this article. The observatory is at 106.2 metres high and price is 750 JPY (about 9 USD).
Roppongi hills
Roppongi hills is located in Roppongi. The observatory is at 218 metres high and price is 1500 JPY (about 19 USD). But in this building you can visit outside observatory at 270 metres high.
Tokyo tower
As I write about this one in top of this article, main observatory at 120 metres high and price is 820 JPY (about 10 USD). And special observatory at 223 metres high and price is 600 JPY (about 7 USD). If you visit both special and main observatory, you need to pay 1420 JPY (about 18.5 USD).
Tocho
Tocho is officially, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No.1. And it has observatory at 202 metres high and price is Free.
So, I think the observatory price for Tokyo Sky Tree is quite expensive. How do you think about that?
Thank you.
11 June 2011
The earthquake and I
The Earthquake Country
Earthquake is immediate disaster for Japanese people, I think. I heard that earthquake hits anywhere in the world 1,500,00 times in each year (average). And about 10% of these earthquakes occurs around Japan.
The earthquakes which are larger than M 5.0 occurs 1,500 times anywhere in the world in each year (average), and about 20% of these earthquakes occurs around Japan. Now you can imagine that we the Japanese experience many earthquakes in our daily lives.
The map below shows how many active faults and where these are. Active faults are one of the main source of earthquake.
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| (Map from Google, data from AIST) |
Not only the active faults, but trenches and troughs are also important to know more about earthquakes.
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| (Map from Google) |
The map above is maps around Japan with troughs and trenches. (I wrote lines on maps so, it's not so accurate).
So, there are many reasons that earthquakes occurs around Japan so much.
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| (Map and data from ADEP: 1st Jan., 2011 to 1st June, 2011. Figure shows earthquakes which marked as between magnitude 3.0 and magnitude 9.0.) |
The map above it shows how many earthquakes hit Japan in this year, and how strong they were. Well, there are more than 3,000 times of earthquakes had been recorded in half of this year.
I showed some data about earthquakes, but I'm not expert of earthquake. Please tell me when you find some problems.
The 3.11
Today is the exactly 3 months after the earthquake.
According to Metropolitan police department, 15,405 people were killed by the earthquake/tsunami, and 8,095 people are still missing. (as of 10th June.) About 90,000 people are still staying in evacuation centres. It seems like TV stations lost their interest to these people, now they are broadcasting only about nuclear power plants, political issues and Korean artists.
The energy shortage
Tokyo Electric Co.,(TEPCO) are providing their electrical energy to Kanto region. About 30% of their energy source was nuclear power plants. Now we are facing energy shortage because several nuclear power plants have been stopped due to earthquakes/tsunami and irresponsible fears to nuclear power plants.
Well, I don't understand that Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered Chubu Electric Co., to stop their nuclear power plants. He ordered to stop it because another major earthquake is expected. He ordered to take enough measures for Tsunami and earthquakes. Then why did he ordered only to this nuclear power plant? There are about 50 nuclear power plants in Japan, and I think they all have risks of earthquake.
In fact, the earthquake in Tohoku was not expected as such a large one. I think, his action was totally non-sense and he made the energy shortage worse.
Here's one example, governor of Fukui prefecture ordered to Japanese government to strict safe measurement for nuclear power plants. And they denies to restart some nuclear power plants in Fukui until these plants will pass the new safe measurement. In Fukui prefecture, there are 15 reactors and 6 of them are stopping due to periodic inspections. Another 2 reactors will be in the periodic inspections in next month.
If the governor denyies to restart these reactors, we'll lost major energy source. Most of reactors in Fukui prefecture are providing for Kansai Electric Co.,. Kansai Electric Co., is providing electric energy for Kansai region (such as Osaka and Kyoto). And they are depending on nuclear energy almost 50%.
Some companies shifted their business to Kansai region due to energy shortage in Tokyo. So if the energy shortage effect to Kansai region, Japanese economy might destroy. I hope the governor will make right decision.
The earthquake and I
I felt, we almost back to our usual lives. But I don't recommend to visit Tokyo as tourist. Look at the photo below.
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| Darkish train due to energy saving |
The train is a little dark because train operators decided to turn off light in day-time on sunny days. Sometimes, they are turning off air-conditioner even on hot day. Well, it's really uncomfortable. I don't want to ride such a train.
Also the night, most of street lamps are turning off. Well, it's bit dark. Some shops close a little earlier. Then I cannot buy some stuff after I finish my job. Most inconvenience one is ATM. Banks decided to close some of their ATMs at evening. Well, I cannot withdraw my money from my accounts after I finish my job.
Maybe most of buildings will stop to use air conditioner even on hot day. And it might increase the number of heat stroke. I hope this will not happen. We should think about energy saving much more. Just turn off light, air conditioner, and etc is not the only way to saving energy.
Thank you.
09 June 2011
Super cool biz
We the Japanese, love to wear suits even in hot day, I felt. I think, it's really crazy look at the train in summer days in Tokyo. You can see the trains crowded with workers who are wearing suits... Well, it seems so stifling.
Suits is not from Japan, I think. But Japanese people seems to love these suits. Anyway, I don't like it so much.
Some years ago, the government started the campaign "cool biz" to spread business casuals to many companies. They are promoting wears which are better wears than suits and tie during summer. I felt it's really nice campaign, because if these promotion going well, we don't have to wear the suits in hot summer days.
In my opinion, most of these workers are now not wearing their ties. But they are still wearing suits. So the government's campaign seems to be failed.
"Super cool biz" is not so cool
Japanese government started their new summer clothes campaign "Super cool biz". I think, it's not so cool because these wears are just wears for summer. But it looks a little comfortable.
Why they started such a campaign in this year?
Well, the energy shortage to be expected in this summer in Japan. This is due to the major earthquake in March. We still have trouble in Fukushima-daiichi nuclear power plants, and the government ridiculously ordered to stop Hamaoka nuclear power plants in Shizuoka prefecture due to future Tsunami concern. Also, some of Japanese people believe nuclear power plants must stop immediately, and they are now trying to stop all of the nuclear power plants in Japan. (I don't agree with their opinion.)
Because we are in energy shortage, we should reduce our energy spend in this summer. For these reasons, the government started their new campaign "super cool biz". I hope they will promote to wear T-shirts and half pants with sandal. (Of course, I'm joking.)
Starts on cold day
The day one of super cool biz was 1st June. It was really cold day and many people are wearing long-sleeved shirts. Yes, it was totally not suitable day for super cool biz. Day 2 was also cold day and most of people were not trying super cool biz.
In this week, the weather got well and the temperature increased so much. So there might be some people who are trying super cool biz. I've never seen such a people yet.
Well, if I have a chance, I might try super cool biz...
Thank you.
01 June 2011
Pepsi Dry
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| Pepsi's funny flavours |
I think, PEPSI is really interesting company. They are providing many funny products in these years such as Pepsi Azuki and Pepsi Mont Blanc. I tried these "unusual" pepsi cola these years, but I prefer the usual one. (Not diet coke.) Anyway, Suntory which franchisee of Pepsi in Japan, announced their new "strategy(!?)". They are planning to defy the common wisdom that cola is sweet drink.
Non-sweet cola
They released their new flavour of Pepsi cola on 24th May. Yes, it's about a week ago. Their new flavour is called "Pepsi dry". Well, they said "non-sweet cola".
I think, it's not cola if it's not sweet. It's just sparkling mineral water.
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| Pepsi dry |
But they are advertising that it's cola. They are advertising "nine times out of ten would say 'it's not sweet'".
Anyway, I bought this one because I was trying such crazy pepsi drinks these years. And I wanted to try this one too.
I drunk it. Well, it's exactly not sweet. It's smells like cola, but it's not cola anymore. And I don't like it...
I also found that it's not zero-calorie cola. It's not sweet, but it has calorie. I think, you should buy diet coke!
Perrier
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| My favourite Perrier |
Well, it's a little like Perrier, but it's totally different from Perrier. I sometimes drink Perrier which is France's natural sparkling water, and I like it... But I don't like Pepsi dry.
I don't understand that they started to release such a drink, but I found some funny articles that about Pepsi dry. According to these articles, they believe it's better to use Pepsi dry as seasoning, not as cola.
If you have, and if you want to try this one... You can try it in Japan.
But I don't recommend it.
Thank you.
15 May 2011
London trip: Day 5
In the morning, we went to Emirates stadium which is the Arsenal FC's home stadium. One of my friends who went to London with is the big fun of Arsenal FC. And he wanted to visit the stadium, buy some goods at official shop... Then we went there. Unfortunately, the weather was not good at all on this day. But we could know how big it is! I visited some stadiums in Japan such as Ajinomoto stadium in Tokyo, but the Emirates stadium was much larger than stadiums in Japan, I felt.
If we could, we would like to watch the match there. But we couldn't do so as I wrote before.
After we visited the stadium, we went to Buckingham palace. We've already checked the schedule of changing of the guard. Fortunately, we could arrived there on time, and saw that.
In front of the palace, we saw rainbow colored cab. We saw many cabs during our stay, but we didn't ride it at all. So if I have a chance, I would like to ride it.
After we saw changing of the guard, we went to Fortnum & Mason. I didn't know this shop, but my friend told me. According to my friend, Fortnum's is famous tea shop in London. When we arrived at Fortnum's, there were many Japanese tourists. They were buying so many teas and tea goods there, but I didn't have much money to buy such a many stuff there. So I bought one tea for my family.
I also didn't know the name Camden Market. At Camden market, there were many shops and I felt it's a little like Takeshita-dori where Tokyo's shopping district for young people.
But I felt it's much stylish, because I found two cool paintings near there. Of course, there are many graffiti also in Tokyo, but I felt most of them are looks so ugly, and I don't like most of graffiti in Tokyo.
We used Baker street station again and again during our trip, but we've never been 221B until the final day. So as our memorial, we get off the tube and went to 221B on this day.
Also, as our memorial we went to abbey road.
Well, we were not big fun of the Beatles, but there were fun of the Beatles who were taking pictures. Some of them were standing on zebra crossing to behave like cover picture of the Beatles' album "Abbey road".
But it's not look like cover picture, because the line on the road changed...
We had a lot of places where we visited on this day, and sky was getting dark. Yes, we needed to think about our final dinner during our stay.
Well, we were planning to take dinner at British pub during our stay at least one night. So, here it is. We went to pub near Hyde park. And this is the fish & chips. I felt it's so big!!
We ate this with British beer.
We mostly used undergrounds (or I should say tube?) during our stay. We bought Oyster card on first day, because it seems to be easy to pay our fares. In Japan, there are some similar prepaid card such as Suica. These prepaid cards are really useful because we don't have to buy tickets. The card automatically calculate the correct fee when we touched the gates.
I think, it's really useful, but I felt a little inconvenience. I felt a little inconvenience, because the gates sometimes didn't work right. And we needed to touch the card strongly to gates. Suica works so rapidly and we don't have to touch to the gates so strongly. Then I felt a little inconvenience. Anyway, it helped me to travel with undergrounds.
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I won't write about day 6 and day 7 as stand-alone article, because I don't have anything to write about that. Day 6, the day which our airplane leave London. So, we spend our time mostly at Heathrow Airport. Just waiting for the departure.
On day 7, we came back to Tokyo before noon. The airplane arrived at Narita Airport. And that is really far away from my house. I hope all of them will depart and arrive at Haneda Airport.
You can check previous articles that about my trip to London from:
Thank you!
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