The beautiful Tokyo Tower was designed by Tachū Naitō (1886 – 1970). Tachū Naitō is well-known for designing earthquake-resistant structures. When the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, both the Industrial Bank of Japan building and the Kabuki theater building survived, whereas many other buildings around them were destroyed. Tachū Naitō was the one who designed both of these buildings.
In 1885 Shibuya Station was only on the Yamanote Line, and had an average of 34 users per day. At that time Shibuya was more of a rural area and survived through the Great Kanto Earthquake 1923 when the downtown area was destroyed. But later many people moved their businesses to Shibuya and more subway lines were added to the station. There was no central plan however, and more train lines were just added one at a time in a disorderly fashion as the area became more and more popular. As a result the Shibuya Station became a colossal labyrinth that had insufficient earthquake resistance and flooding issues. Finally in 2006 the government decided to rebuild the station to make it safer and less confusing and ever since then they have been remodeling it without closing down the entire station. In order to do this workers have to practice their techniques at a simulated location so that they can minimize construction time on the actual worksite. The Shibuya Station upgrade is supposed to finish in 2027.
The number of railway lines in Tokyo is the highest in the world. There are 42 Japan Railway lines, 91 private lines and 15 subway lines in Tokyo. The average number of riders is forty million per day, and there are 655 train stations in Tokyo. Wow! . It is also known as the most punctual system in the world. They make an announcement and apologize even when they are running behind their schedule by only 20 seconds.
Siblings Hifumi (23) and Uta Abe (21) both won gold medals in Judo at the 2020 Olympics. I wasn’t going to talk about any specific athletes since everyone is spectacular to me, but the Abe siblings look so cute that I just wanted to mention them. They are the first Japanese gold medalist siblings, and the first siblings from any country to win gold medals on the same day.
The Tokyo Aquatics Centre is another beautiful building that was built especially for the 2020 Olympics. It is used for the swimming and diving competitions. A special sound control system was built into the structure so that the reverberation (echo) time is less than three seconds.
The Yoyogi National Gymnasium was built for the Tokyo 1964 Olympics. It is a beautiful gymnasium with a suspension roof design that does not use pillars. In 2017 the earthquake‐resistant repair work was done to meet today’s safety standards. It is located 1.5 miles from the National Stadium.
The National Stadium is the main Olympic stadium for the Tokyo Olympics. It was rebuilt and finished in 2020. The biggest challenge was to keep the height of the stadium low since it is located next to the Meiji Shrine that enshrines the spirit of the Meiji Emperor. Although it can hold up to 68,000 people, its height is only 47 meters, whereas the Montreal Olympic Stadium that holds 66,000 is 165 meters high. This National stadium is also designed to survive massive earthquakes so that it will become a shelter if one occurs.
The design emphasizes the warmth of earth, and trees from all 47 prefectures in Japan were used for its eaves.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are being held for 17 days from July 23rd through August 8th, 2021. The starting date was pushed back a year due to COVID-19, and until the very last minute people were still wondering if it would really be held at all. Although the games have started as scheduled, there is no live audience. But even under these conditions, athletes must be happy to have the chance to perform and compete. 頑張ってください！
Normally Setsubun falls on the 3rd of February, but it is the 2nd of February this year. This happens due to the traditional East Asian lunisolar calendar, and this is the first time in 124 years!
Ehōmaki is a relatively new practice for the Setsubun started in 1998. This is a photo of fish tank decor for Anago or Japanese sea-eel in Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium.
