Tokyo Skyline

While I previously highlighted Shinjuku's bustling nightlife, there are some benefits to visiting during the day as well. Determined to get some nice shots of the city, I hopped onto the Tokyo Metro, leaving tourist-swamped Asakusa. As a major business center, Shinjuku has the world's busiest train station. According to Wikipedia, the station has 36 platforms and well over 200 exits. With that in mind, it's no surprise that I found myself wandering around, lost for the umpteenth time. I eventually reached an exit, but as luck would have it my target destination was located in the other direction. Not wanting to navigate the busy station corridors again, I decided to walk around the station instead.

Walkways spanned across the busy streets, cars zooming by below. Even outside the station it is fairly easy to get lost if you are unfamiliar with the area. Luckily, I was headed toward the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, headquarters of the governing body for Tokyo's 23 wards.

Soon enough the government building was in sight. While hardly the tallest building in Tokyo, it was still a respectable height, towering over me as I approached. I entered through the main entrance, underwent a quick bag check, and took the elevator to the 45th floor of the south tower. At the top of each tower is an observatory, allowing one to look upon the seemingly never-ending city.

My ultimate goal was to see the Tokyo sunset, but as it was still a bit early, I succumbed to hunger and ate a passable spaghetti carbonara while I waited. I was hardly alone in the observatory, as many others had also planned their visit around the sunset, setting up camp along the western window panes.

I soon found myself among them, taking several shots of the southern and eastern views before settling down beside a pillar with perfect view of what was about to occur. As there isn't any point in trying to describe a sunset, I hope the following set of photos is enough to at least capture some essence of my experience in the observatory: