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Architektur, Lexikon, typisch für Japan   

typical japanese – Obsession „Eiffel Tower“

Siegmund would have it’s own explaination for the fact, that there is an Eiffel tower in every major city in Japan. You cannot imagine a big city without it. Radio towers are everywhere in Japan. But you cannot image a big japanese city without at least one special radio tower. This one will have a viewing platform and a shape like the Eiffel tower in Paris. The mother of all towers is Tower Tower, even if it was one of the last towers, that was built. Tokyo Tower is 333m high and it really lookes like the Eiffel Tower. But it is 9m higher and totally orange. It was built in 1958 and became the landmark of the city and still is the 3rd highest tower built of steel.

Tokyo Tower

height 332,6m, observation deck at 150m and 250m; architect: Tachū Naitō, opened 1958

He is one of the highest buildings in Tokyo and was the highest radio tower until 2012. At this year the Sky Tree with an height of 634m was opened. He has the potential to succed in beein the landmark of the whole city. It’s design is unique. He represents the Tokyo of the 21st century and will get it’s own blog entry.

Tokyo Tower is 9m higher than the original but only half the weight (4000 tons). But why built it out of steel and not concrete. In the 50ies they decided for steel because it is more stable in the fact of an earthquake. If you use steel it is obvious to decide for a similar shape like the Eiffel tower, that became the blue print for steel towers.

The family

Tokyo Tower is only one of several towers built in the 50ies. Tokyo Tower is just the biggest one. Here is family (the part of it I already visited). You can see the similarity. They were all designed by the architect Tachū Naitō and have a viewing platform.

Sapporo TV Tower (さっぽろテレビ塔)
height 147,2m, observation deck at 90.4m; architect: Tachū Naitō, opened in 1957

Sapporo Toweri is older than Tokyo Tower. He is like the older brother. The reason was the time to built up Tokyo Tower. It just took so long. He has two observation decks. The lower one at 90,4m is a big souvenir shop with windows. In 1961 they mounted a digital watch. Saporro Tower is located in the Odori-Park, that is the origin of the street coordintes in Saporro (the streets in Saporro are numbered in East, West, South, North). At night the tower is illuminated in orange, like the big brother in Tokyo.

Nagoya TV Tower (名古屋テレビ塔)
height 180m, observation deck at 90m and 100m; architect: Tachū Naitō, opened in 1954

It is the oldest radio tower in Japan that has the shape of the Eiffel Tower and is also designed by Tachu Naito. It’s height is 180m and the observation deck is at 90m. The specialty is a free deck at 100m (roof of the viewing platform), called Sky Balcony. You can take the stairway (310 steps), if you want. There are restaurants and souvenir shops at the 30m level. The tower is located in the city center of Nagoya in the Hisaya Odori Park.

Beppu Tower (別府タワー)
height 100m, observation deck at 55m; opened on May 10, 1957

Beppu also has a tower, a tiny one. It was built at the same time as Tokyo Tower. The foundation of this tower is concrete building. He was built on the roof. It is very close to the tiny beach of Beppu on the east side of the main road that leads from the train station to the water line.

— deutscher Blogeintrag —

Architektur, Lexikon, typisch für Japan   

typical japanese – Koban (the japanese TARDIS)

Koban, with a long o, is a police box; a tiny police station with usually one or two officers. The boxes are a big benefit for tourists. They are everywhere. Every block has a least one. Because there are no house number (and if there are, there is no logical order), the koban is possibly the only place where you can get help to find the house you are looking for. Sometimes there are street maps that will help you. Finding a koban is easier.

Koban in Ueno

Koban are also helpful if you got yourself lost in Tokyo. The description of the way back to the hotel always is to complex for my knowledge of Japanese. I tried it and gave up. Therefore it was easiert to ask for the next koban on the way. Then I asked the next koban for the next koban, and so on. Usually there is a koban every quarter mile.

Finding a koban

A koban is easy to find. At night there are two red lights. Ok, at daylight it is a little more difficult. Usually there is a police officer standing in front of the koban. Looking for an American cop? Donut shop. Looking for a German Cop? Döner Shop. Looking for a Japanese Cop? Standing in front of a koban. Typically Japanese. Often you can also see the white bicylces.

The frog

Some koban are really well camouflaged. The one in Taito had a big japanese police stick mounted on the wall. It more looked like a souvenir shop. On Ginza the koban was some kind of an attraction. There was a big plastic frog on the roof. (The frog was gone 2010.) Because police boxes are everywhere, they are also the aim of architects., like this one in Ueno park.

More about this topic, if I have more pictures and informations.

— deutscher Blogeintrag —

Architektur, Lexikon, typisch für Japan   

typical japanese – pedestrian deck

Pedestrian decks are everywhere in Tokyo and all over Japan. What the roundabout for England (sometimes nothing more than a white circle in the center of the junction, os the pedestrian deck for Japan. They are simple ones. Just a tiny bridge with stairs on both side of the street. But there are also very complex constructions; melting into train stations and office buildings. They are art work. They cancel the meaning of „ground level“.

There is a practical reason behind it. There are no traffic lights for pedestrians and also crossing a street on traffic light at a junction is sometimes tricky. The green phase is reduced to a minium. Imagine to stop traffic in Tokyo for people to walk across the street. No way. Tokyo is to complex. You have to seperate car traffic and pedestrians.

Iidabashi und Shimbashi

The pedestrian deck in Iidabashi for example is a complete ring, connection all corners of the junction. Additionally there is an express way above the pedestrian deck. It is next to the JR station and like an starter drug. The next level the one between Ginza is Shimbashi. It is a good example for a pedestrian deck that was built after the streets were built. Shimbashi was on of my first impressions of 3D-Tokyo in 2004. My second walk thru the city passed here while I was heading for Nihonbashi.

Shiodome

One of the most complex pedestrian decks is the one in Shiodome. This one is also mentioned in the book „21st century Tokyo – A guide to Contemporary Architecture“. The architecture in Shiodome will get it’s in blog entry. If you visit this area you can arrive by subway or you walk from Hamarikyu Teien. Do the second one. The garden is really amazing. If you leave the north gate you are mostly in front of the pedestrian deck. It is the entrance to a maze of pathways between the buildings of Shiodome. After visiting the garden the stairs are like stairs into a different world.

Osaka, Saporro, …

The pedestrian decks become more than a passage way to the other side of the street. Japan tries to separate pedestrians from the traffic. It even is part of city development. Sooner or later I will return to Gifu and check how the plan was realized. The trains already stop in the upper level. Why not move the pedestrian up too.

— deutscher Blogeintrag —

Lexikon, typisch für Japan   

typical japanese – parking lots and tiny cars

Tokyo has 240 squaremiles and 9 million people. That make 37475 people/squaremile. Hamburg only has 6159. Or in other words: Tokyo is 6 times more packed than Hamburg. Therefore Tokyo is growing into the height and not into the surrounding area. If you ever were in Hamamatsucho, you wish for a 3D street map. This space problem also affects the parking space. The Japanese are really inventive in using space.

There is an urban legend that you are only allowed to buy a car, if you can prove a parking space for the car. I don’t know if this is true, but after watching Japan I believe it. Why else would they built parking spacing like this ?

A public parking space is hard to get and expensive. Free area is like gold. Additionally all the plots still have the old side. This results in 10 story office buildings with a ground plot of 5 by 7 meter for example. There are also car parks of this size. The stack cars like hardware store the carpet. The tiniest area is used.

There is something that complete falls into the category „typical japanese“: If there are billable parking lots for bicycles they also have them for motorbikes.

XXS-Cars

Tiny car are always from Japan. Big cars from America. Prejudgment? Maybe. But true. But in Japan the attribute „small“ is applicable for trucks and even fire trucks. They all like washed at to high temperature (and shrinked).

But why are all these mini cars? The answer is: Because of Tokyo. Or Kyoto. Or all the other big cities in Japan. There are streets with 8 lanes and several levels stacked. But there are also these narrow streets; so small that not even two european compact cars would fit into it. Here a picture from Ueno.

The size of a garbage truck really rises the question about the size of the average japanese trash can. If you scale it linear by the size of th truck … hell no.

The best „compact“ car I found in 2010. It was the day I returned from Hokkaido. I walked thru Nihonbashi and searched for the 8 lucky shrines. During lunch time I saw many food carts and business people looking for a meal. This is maybe the smallest mobile kitchen on this planet.

— deutscher Blogeintrag —

Lexikon, typisch für Japan   

typical japanese – two wheels everywhere

Bicycles are also something to be aware of. On the first look it seems that there only one manufacturer. They look all the same. It is worse than in the Netherlands. Japan is also not famous for pictures with a lot of bicycles (that is China), but rather for crowded trains and platforms (Yamanote). Nevertheless, bicycles seems also to be something „typically Japanese.

The police has special bikes with an „glove compartment“ and one or two tubes for their glow sticks. The chain is fully covered and the stand is mounted at the rear axis.

This is also typical for Japan: An older Lady on a bike with an umbrella; used as protection against the midday sun. There are special mounts available. I don’t know if this is working well on a windy day. I rented a bike to drive to Soyamisaki (2010). The 62km were no fun. „My ride“ was without these fancy sun umbrella. The result was a nasty sunburn.

By the way, there practically are no bike paths in Japan. I saw one in Nagoya and took a The first parking space for bicycles I found in Ueno. Like one for cars. With whites stripes on the ground and numberes spaces. There was only space for 8 bikes. But is was well organized. One holiday later I saw a bike rack with a coin slot (picture from Higashi-Ikebukuro). You have to pay to park your bike! What is next? A parking disk?

picture. It was so exotic. I am not familar with the rules, but it seems, that you have to ride your bike on the sidewalk (which is sometimes on 20 inch wide). One trained people with high priced racing bikes use the street.

— deutscher Blogeintrag —