View of Tokyo from Roppongi Hills
{ Japan April 2010 - Day 2 - Roppongi Hills, Tokyo }
After spending the afternoon around Shinjuku, we travelled to Roppongi Hills. Roppongi Hills is a mega-complex in Roppongi, or written in Japanese as 六本木 which literally means six trees. Roppongi Hills is a major development which includes various buildings in a large plot of land, developed by Japan's real estate tycoon Minoru Mori.
We had dinner around the shopping area before walking along a walkway with sakura trees all brightly lit. It was an interesting and different ways to look at the sakura, after spending a day around "natural" sakura trees in Shinjuku Gyoen.
Our next stop was the Mori Tower. We went straight up to the 52nd floor to the Tokyo City View, which was self-dubbed as the "observation deck in the heart of Tokyo".
There was a kimono exhibition in the shopping centre. Kimono is a traditional Japanese garment, which, today, is worn mostly by women on special occasion. This is usually matched with sandals.
Tokyo was brightly lit at night. However, apart from the tall and imposing Tokyo Tower, there were no other major landmarks that were clearly visible from the observation deck. The Tokyo Tower which stood at 333 metres is the second tallest man-made structure in the whole of Japan! It was probably the frequent earthquakes experienced in the country that prevented tall buildings and structure from being built.
The Mori Art Museum shared the same admission fee with Tokyo City View. The exhibition when we were there was "Roppongi Crossing 2010: Can There Be Art?". It was an interesting thought-provoking art exhibition. However, some were too interesting that I could not comprehend what the artist was trying to portray. That's art, for you!
::: Footnotes :::
{ Roppongi Hills } Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ Roppongi Hiruzu) is in Roppongi. Directions to the area can be checked here.
{ Tokyo City View } Tokyo City View is on the 52nd floor of Mori Tower. It costs 1,500 yen to go to the observation deck. However, the fee includes admission to the Mori Art Museum.
{ Mori Art Museum } Mori Art Museum is on the same floor as Tokyo City View and admission is for both Tokyo City View and the museum.
{ Mori Art Museum } Mori Art Museum is on the same floor as Tokyo City View and admission is for both Tokyo City View and the museum.
