Yebisu Garden Place

Trip Start Aug 22, 2009

Trip End Aug 24, 2009

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of Japan Mita, Tōkyō, Japan
Monday, December 12, 2011

Because I lived in Tokyo for 10 years, the city is not like a travel destination to me, but I couldn't help going to Tokyo to have a medical check-up for an Aussie visa application. Actually, I had had the medical check-up twice in Nagoya before I found that the clinic where I had it was not available any more. So I had to travel to Tokyo just for the medical check-up and didn't have much time for tourist attractions of Tokyo. In the morning, I was in Mita to make an inquiry about my visa application at the Australian Embassy. Actually, if you have a question, you can contact them by phone or e-mail, but it may be quite a trouble. I made a call to them more than ten times, but the line was always busy, and I sent e-mail to ask another question, but I had to wait for their reply for several days. In conclusion, I found out that the best way was to contact them in person. On my way to the embassy, I was lucky to catch a glimpse of Tokyo Tower. Now there are a lot of higher towers in the world, but it was the highest tower at 333 meters as of 1958 and has been the most famous landmark of Tokyo since then

Yebisu Garden Place Christmas Lights

. After I left the embassy, I headed to Asakusa just to see Tokyo Sky Tree, which is the highest tower in the world at 634 meters as of now. (Incidentally, the highest "building" in the world is Burj Khalifa of Dubai at 829.84 meters.) Unfortunately, because I didn't have much time, I just viewed it from a distance and took a picture from the Komagata Bridge. In fact, the tower is still under construction and scheduled to open in May, 2012. I thought I would not be in Japan then, so I was definitely eager to see it this time.

When I left Tokyo British Clinic, which was one of the clinics designated the Australian Immigration, it was almost four in the afternoon. Because my bus for Nagoya was scheduled to depart at five thirty, I had only one and half hours including travelling time. Because the clinic was located in Yebisu and Yebisu Garden Place was the only tourist attraction around the area, I decided to visit the park. The park trees were beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and the main feature of the season, Baccarat chandelier, was placed at the centre of the park. It was sure that they were beautiful, but the most impressive thing to me was a Mt. Fuji view from the Garden Place Tower. It was the first time to see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo and, when I caught sight of the mountain, I really doubted that it was Mt. Fuji at first. (I made sure later that it was.) Interestingly, it was the second time to see Mt. Fuji on the day, because I had seen it at Shin-Fuji from the Shinkansen on my way to Tokyo. Mt. Fuji is about 100 kilometers away from the central Tokyo, so it seems there are some places where you can see Mt. Fuji from the city. Anyway, I was totally satisfied with the view of Mt. Fuji at sunset from the building and nicely left Tokyo.

Slideshow