Category: Tokyo

Tokyo’s city hall building is called “Tocho” (都庁). It was the tallest building in the city from 1991 until last year when Tokyo Midtown was completed. “Tocho” was designed by Kenzo Tange trying to emulate a computer chip shape, do you think it looks like a chip? Its texture reminds me the Tyrell Corporation headquarters building.

Since some time ago, during national holiday days it is illuminated with the Olympic colors in order to promote Tokyo’s candidature for 2016 Olympic games. Every time I saw it with the special illumination I was either far away or no carrying my camera, but yesterday I looked from my balcony and I could see the “Tocho” like this:

Park Hyatt on the left and “Tocho” on the right.

I got my tripod, a 10-20mm lens and rode my fantabulous orange bicycle towards the city hall building:

I could not resist and stopped just before arriving and this super-photo:

But, just when I was arriving… Murphy switched off the lights!!! I was 23h o’clock. I’ll try next time, this is what I could get when I arrived:

“Tocho” on the left and an annex building on the right.

Related entries:

• Tocho illuminated with green lights

Look at the girl in the picture, she is planting some tomatoes in little corner between two roads in the middle of Tokyo. Isn’t it amazing? She cares about that little place of land lost in Tokyo’s immensity, and what is more amazing is that she doesn’t seem worried about people or dogs destroying her tomatoes and her lavender.

This is a picture from the other side of the same piece of land, so you can see how other people is also planting and making good use of it.