Tokyo Tower (1)

Much seems to have been made of the fact that the height of Tokyo Tower, erected in the 1950s when Japan was asserting itself as an international industrial power, exceeds that of the Eiffel Tower by about 30m. It needs to be said, however, that this tower utterly lacks the charm of its Parisian model. One reason is the garish orange. But perhaps more crucial is that while walking under the Eiffel and gazing up at the beautiful form of its immense structure is a true joy, a similar experience in Tokyo is prevented due to the ugly brown box of a building - home to souvenir shops, a wax museum, and other tourist traps - that entirely fills the space under the tower. Nonetheless, the tourists come by busloads and all snap away. One finds oneself, then, struggling a bit to find an interesting way to photograph it.