I’ve had the great opportunity to visit Japan twice in the last five years, first in 2016 and again in 2018, and would not let rule out another adventure there. With the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo I wanted to revisit those trips and share some of the pictures that I may or may not have already.
Tokyo Tower might be one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower and built in 1958 it’s mainly used as a radio and television broadcast antennae as well as a source of tourism, nearly 150 million people a year visit it. I took the image from Shiba Park in Minato City.
Where would we be without GPS? This monolith-like tower is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Station which measures and monitors coordinates all over Earth. This particular facility also monitors height change of the “Origin of the Japanese Vertical Control Network,” which has been the standard reference for elevation since 1891. Basically, this is point 0.0 for global positioning.
And one more tower for good measure. This one is Tokyo Skytree. It’s 2,080 feet tall, making it the tallest tower in the world and second tallest structure after the Burj Khalifa. It was completed in 2012 and in addition to being an observation deck, it also serves as an antenna for six broadcasters.
Jared Leone 