Observation deck

Yesterday my wife and I went to the top floor of a tall building that had an observation deck from which you could get a bird’s-eye view of the Tokyo area.

A sign there said that 富士山 (Mount Fuji) and 東京タワー (Tokyo Tower) could be seen from that observation deck on clear days.

The sky was fairly clear when we went…but there were some clouds. We could see Mt. Fuji and Tokto Tower…but just barely.

But it was still a nice view.

We went to observation decks in Tokyo before (Click here to see a post with photos from one in Shinjuku).
The difference between those and the observation deck we went to yesterday is that this one was in a Tokyo suburb…so the surrounding buildings weren’t as high, but the tall skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo could be seen in the distance.

After we left there, I saw a line of  「ヤマト運輸」 (Yamato Transport), also called 「クロネコ」 (“Black cat“), trucks going down the highway one behind the other. I took a photo only because I was mildly surprised to see a convoy of package delivery trucks.

建国記念日

Today is a Japanese national holiday…so we all have the day off.

It’s called 建国記念日 (National Foundation Day).

I have a short FAQ about this holiday on my main website. (Click here to see it.)

This holiday used to be called 起源説 (Empire Day) and celebrated the “divinity” of the Emperor of Japan.

After Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, the American Occupying Forces abolished 起源説 (Empire Day) and declared the Emperor of Japan was a mortal.

At that point the holiday was renamed 建国記念日 (National Foundation Day) and is a day to commemorate the founding of Japan as a country with the ascension of the first Emperor on February 11, 660 B.C.

If you’re in Japan on a national holiday, you will notice 日の丸 (Japanese flags) on the front of city buses and on the front of 交番 (Koban Police Boxes). This is a custom in Japan on holidays…but especially on 建国記念日 (National Foundation Day).