I spent a good amount of time seeking out a location for some architectural photography, and specifically, I wanted to find a place that I remembered Junko, Taffy, and Michael photographed (I think it was called the Forum or something). All I remembered was that they said it was near Tokyo Station. As I walked, I finally found Tokyo Station, but I never found the amazing structure they discovered.
Tokyo Station was so interesting as it was a mix of modern and traditional architecture. There were these wonderful domed ceilings with the warm yellows and browns, and then in the main part of the station, there was metal, glass, shops--nothing of particular note except the sheer size of the station. If you look closely at this ceiling shot, you will see a netting that was on all of the domed ceilings, so there was no getting around that, but geometrically, I think it worked. The green parts (barely cropped in are zodiac animals--see below).
While I did not find the Forum I sought, I did go across the street from the station to a rooftop terrace that allowed me to look down on the actual station (the old and new) and it had a wonderful view of the bullet trains coming and going--also against very nice glass structural buildings (probably the very one I was hoping to find now I think about it!).
On the rooftop terrace across from Tokyo Station, a guard told me to take down my tripod--I think he thought I was filming scenes. I had checked with the information desk before even going up to make sure photography was allowed, but who am I to argue with the guard? He let me take one last photo of the actual building below, so I'll post that one next!
Off the beaten track: 10 fascinating facts
1. The station was only named Tokyo Station two weeks before its official opening. Until then, it was simply called the “central terminal.”
2. Two assassination attempts on prime ministers have been carried out at Tokyo Station. Takashi Hara was stabbed to death in front of the south exit in 1921, while Osachi Hamaguchi was gunned down on the platform of the express train to Tsubame in 1930, dying from his wounds the following year.
3. The original architectural plan was created by Franz Baltzer of Germany but his idea was rejected for being “too Japanese.”
4. About 740,000 people helped build Tokyo Station in 1914. The recent renovation involved about 780,000 people.
5. The whole floor space of Tokyo Station is 182,000 sq. meters, or 3.6 times the size of Tokyo Dome.
6. Only two stations are currently operating that are designated as Important Cultural Assets: Tokyo Station and Mojiko Station in Fukuoka Prefecture.
7. Before its renovation, Tokyo Station was protected from damage during earthquakes by 11,050 larch poles of 21 cm in diameter that were between 3.6 to 7.2 meters in length.
8. Only eight of the 12 zodiac animals are displayed in Tokyo Station’s domes. The rest of the animals can be found on the second floor of a gate in Saga Prefecture at Takeo Onsen hot spring, which was also created by Kingo Tatsuno.
9. In 2013, Tokyo Station overtook Shibuya Station to handle the third-highest number of passengers after Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, according to JR East.
10. About 8 million bricks were used to build Tokyo Station.
See also:
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/press/20110903/img/Attachment03.pdf
