Summer Festivals

Earlier this month, I participated in one of Tokyo’s biggest festivals.
(Click here to read that post.)

There are many great festivals all year round…but especially so in the summer.
(Click here to see a list I made of some of Tokyo’s best festivals.)

I like Japan’s festivals a lot…and I go to many of them.

In early August, my family and I went to watch a summer 花火大会 (fireworks show) near our house that we usually go to every year.
The 花火大会 (fireworks shows) in Japan are excellent! If you have a chance, you should see one!
(Here is a list of some of Tokyo’s biggest fireworks shows.)

It’s not easy to photograph fireworks with the camera I have…but here are a few that I took:

花火 (“hanabi”)…literally “flower (of) fire”, is the Japanese word for “fireworks”.

We also went to a festival at a temple not far from the Tokyo Sky Tree.

After that, we went to 上野公園 (Ueno Park):

(Click here to see some other photos I took in Ueno a couple of years ago.)

If you have any questions about festivals in Tokyo, things to do in this city, or whatever…feel free to contact me.

Mu-sa-shi

On the news today they said that the construction of the 東京スカイツリー (Tokyo Sky Tree) reached a height of 634 meters tall at 1:34PM this afternoon.

That means that they are finished building it upwards because it was designed to stand at 634 meters tall.
This height was decided upon for two reasons…first, it is now the world’s tallest free-standing tower, and also in Japanese “6-3-4” can be pronounced as “Mu-sa-shi” which sounds like 「武蔵の国」 (“Musashi“) which is the old name for the area of Tokyo that the towers stands in.

Even though the Tokyo Sky Tree now stands at it’s full height, there is still construction yet to be completed on the tower which isn’t scheduled to be completed until sometime in 2011 December.

The tower is due to open to the public in the spring of 2012.

Last October, they did a test of the tower’s lighting, so we had a preview of what the Tokyo Sky Tree will look like when it’s illuminated every evening.
It’s quite beautiful.
Click here to see the post I wrote with a few photos of the lighting test and a preview of what it’s expected to look like completed and illuminated.

東京スカイツリーライトアップ

The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree”) tower will stand an incredible 634 meters tall once it’s completed next year and every evening it will be illuminated blue and purple on alternating nights (blue one night, purple the next, and so on).

 

What the Tokyo Sky Tree will look like illuminated in blue, once it's completely built.

 

What the Tokyo Sky Tree will look like illuminated in purple, once it's completely built.

Well, as I wrote in this comment I made last Saturday, the Tokyo Sky Tree was illuminated in both blue and purple from 6:30PM until 9:30PM tonight in a test run of the LED lights that will be used to light up the tower every evening once it’s done being built.

As expected, many people turned up with their cameras to see the Tokyo Sky Tree light up the night sky for the first time (and only time until next year).

The Tokyo Sky Tree lit up in purple tonight.

The tallest structure ever built…and still climbing

The Tokyo Sky Tree broadcast tower and observatory is now standing at a height of 407 meters tall…which makes it the tallest structure ever built in Japan.
And it’s only 74% complete. When construction at it is finished next year, it will be 634 meters tall.

I had to go past the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree yesterday, so I brought my camera and took a few photos of it.

The sign says that the tower is currently 470 meters tall.

I have been up in many observatories in Tokyo…some have free admission, such as the government building in Shinjuku (click here to see my post about that building)…and some aren’t free, such as Tokyo Tower (click here for one of the post I wrote about that tower).

Are there any tall towers or observatories in your city? What the tallest one you’ve been in?

53.3% built

Yesterday was the last day of my kids’ spring vacation. And in Japan, after spring holidays the new school starts in early April.

So, today will be my daughters’ first day in the next grade. My oldest is starting 高校２年 (11th grade), my second daughter will begin 高校１年 (10th grade), and my youngest is now in 中学校２年 (8th grade).

They grow up so fast!

As I said, my second daughter is starting 高校１年 (10th grade). It’s the equivalent to tenth grade in America…but a literal translation would be “high school year 1” because it’s the first year of high school in Japan.

So today is her 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony).

Last year at this time my oldest daughter had her 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony) on the same day that my youngest had her 中学校入学式 (Junior High School Entrance Ceremony).
So last year, I went to our oldest daughter’s ceremony and my wife went to our youngest’s ceremony (Click here to read the post I wrote about that day).

But today, both my wife and I will be attending our second daughter’s 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony).

おめでとう (Congratulations) to her!

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I titled this post “53.3% built” because the Tokyo Sky Tree is now standing at 338 meters (about 1,109 feet) tall.

That makes it taller than the 333 meter tall Tokyo Tower and the tallest structure in Japan.

When it’s completed in late 2011, it will stand 634 meters (about 2,080 feet)…which will make it the world’s tallest tower.

338 meters is 53.3% of 634 meters…hence this post’s title.

I went by the Tokyo Sky Tree yesterday, so here are some of the photos I took (as with all the photos on my blog, click on them to enlarge):

When completed, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be about twice as tall as it is now!

I held my camera diagonally for this shot.

World’s Tallest Tower

Until yesterday the Taipei 101 tower was the tallest building in the world. It stands 509 meters (1,670 feet) high.

The "Taipei 101" (509 meters tall)

Next year, the 「東京スカイツリー」 (Tokyo Sky Tree) tower is scheduled to be completed and will stand 634 meters (2,080 feet) tall which would make it the world’s tallest tower.

The "Tokyo Sky Tree" will stand 634 meters high.

Click here to read a post that I wrote about the 「東京スカイツリー」 (Tokyo Sky Tree)…and click here to see another post with some photos I took of the construction of the tower.

But now the 「東京スカイツリー」 (Tokyo Sky Tree) will be the world’s second tallest tower, because the “Burj Khalifa” tower officially opened yesterday (2010 January 4) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The “Burj Khalifa” tower stands at an amazing 828 meters (2,717 feet) tall! Which makes it not only the world’s tallest tower, but it’s the tallest man-made structure in the world!

The "Burj Khalifa" tower stands at 828 meters tall.

愛子さまの誕生日

Today is the eighth birthday of 敬宮愛子内親王 (Princess Aiko) of the Japanese Royal Family.

Princess Aiko at her school's 運動会 ("Sports Day") six weeks ago (2009 Oct).

And yesterday was the 44th birthday of her uncle, 秋篠宮文仁親王 (Prince Akishino).

Prince Akishino with his wife Princess Kiko

Today my wife and I went to check out the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree (click here to see my previous post about this tower), and to see the イチョウ祭り (Gingko Festival) at 明治神宮外苑 (Meiji Grand Shrine Outer-Garden).

Here are some photos I took of the Tokyo Sky Tree tower today:

Only 30% complete so far...it's gonna be huge when it's done!

I always wonder how they get the cranes on top of tall buildings and towers when they're being built.

So far it's 224 meters tall. When done, it'll stand 634 meters high.

The reflection of the "Tokyo Sky Tree" in the water.

From there, we went to the イチョウ祭り (Gingko Festival) at 明治神宮外苑 (Meiji Grand Shrine Outer-Garden). (Click here to see the festival’s homepage).

I only took one photo at the festival of the イチョウ (Gingko Trees) in autumn color:

東京スカイツリー

I wrote about the new broadcast tower being built in Tokyo called the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) last summer. (Click here to read that post. I compare the new tower to the original 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) in that post).

A promo ad showing what the skyline will look like in 2011 with the completed tower.

The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is scheduled to be completed in late 2011 and stand 634 meters tall (making it the tallest structure in Japan, and one of the world’s tallest). The tower’s observatory will be open to the public in the spring of 2012.

Once this tower is completed it will stand out in Tokyo’s skyline. Far above the current 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which is 333 meters tall. The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) will replace the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) as the Tokyo area’s broadcast tower and at that point all TV broadcasts will be digital (because all analog waves will be used for cellular phone service).

The "Tokyo Sky Tree" will tower above all else.

The construction of the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) began last year. Right now, it stands at 191 meters (less than 30% complete).

Here’s a recent photo of the tower’s construction:

"Tokyo Sky Tree", autumn 2009

Unlike the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which stands in Tokyo’s upscale 港区 (Minato Ward)…the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is being built in the blue-collar, 下町 (down-town) area of 浅草 (Asakusa).

It will stand very close to the Asahi Beer headquarters. So, that probably explains why Asahi Beer sold their beer last summer in commemorative 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) cans.

Asahi Beer's commemorative "Tokyo Sky Tree" can

Here’s a promotional video for the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“):

Tokyo Sky Tree

東京タワー (Tokyo Tower), built in 1958, is 333 meters tall. Taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France that it was modeled after.

At the time, it dominated the Tokyo skyline. And was used as a transmission tower for Tokyo’s radio and TV stations…as well as, a popular tourist attraction.

The tower’s fifty years old this year and it’s still used as a transmission tower today (and a tourist draw, as well)…but Tokyo now has many buildings that dwarf the Tokyo Tower…and obstruct the radio and TV waves.

So, the government decided to build a taller transmission / observation tower, to be completed by December 2011 and stand at nearly 634 meters tall (2080 feet).

It will be built at 隅田川 (Sumida River), near 浅草 (Asakusa). And it will be the world’s tallest tower.

This is what it’s expected to look like:

I think it’s an awesome sight. But I really like huge towers, skyscrapers and bridges!

The only thing I don’t like about it is it’s name…

Before a final name was decided upon, it was temporarily referred to as 新東京タワー (New Tokyo Tower). That was bad enough…but the official name for the new tower is: 東京スカイツリー (Tokyo Sky Tree)!

What an unfortunate name.

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Did you know that Japan’s Sumo Wrestlers went to America?

For the first time in 27 years, the top-ranking Sumo Wrestlers held matches in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

It was reported in the Japanese news that it was very popular with the American public.

Is 相撲 (Sumo) catching on in America?

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On Saturday, a new subway line will start running in Tokyo.

The 副都心線 (Fukutoshin Line) will connect Ikebukuro to Shibuya and eventually expand to go from Saitama to Yokohama.

The name of the line translates to something like “Nearly downtown”. That’s my own translation…not an official title. 副都心線 (Fukutoshin Line) is just a name of a train line, not a normal everyday expression—so it’s hard to translate.