Tsutenkaku – The Osaka Tower
Build in 1912, dismantled in 1943 (because of the war). Re-build in 1956. The only one with enshrined American lucky charm figure in it – Billiken. This is the story of Osaka tower in brief and you can find much more in Internet.
I always thought it must be a boring one because it is relatively small (only 103 meters) and it is all gray (compare it with the red and white Tokyo tower). What I discovered though is that Tsutenkaku has its own charm especially if you look at it from the artificial savanna of Tennoji Zoo. Actually it was looking like the last building standing in a post-apocalyptic world (semi-submerged in the jungle):
It reminded me also of “Time Machine” of Herbert Wells – the giant towers of the far, far future. Eloi or Morlocks are hiding in this one? :) We shall learn if the zoom we use:
Not quite there yet. But it is really difficult to clearly see through the canopy of the forest:
Finally! It looks like there are humans after all (even though the Eloi or Morlocks theory was way more interesting). Just one final zoom to be absolutely sure:
Yes, definitely humans and it looks like they are staring down at us. The big Hitachi commercial also brings us back to the Nihon world.
And just one final photo (my favorite of this series) – the branches touch the tower (may be better for a sleeping beauty theme):
I must confess though that this post was a warm up for the Tennoji Zoo one (as I mentioned all the pictures were taken from there). The point is that the photos are so many and the themes within them so different that it will be a challenge to sort them in a single coherent story. But this is after all our life in Japan – variety to its extreme (and a lot, a lot of Udon):)!
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Did you go in? From time to time they have these wicked art exhibits on the top floor. I actually went to a designer furniture exhibition there in spring.
Hi Wouter,
Thank you for the comment.
Not really but it is in my schedule. I was really surprised though to learn that they have enshrined as a god an American lucky charm doll.
Actually yesterday walking in Sannomiya area I found a small Billiken in one of the restaurants and I showed it to my wife and explained what it is.
It is really amazing how many new things I learned about Japan after I joined the Japanese blogsphere :)
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll Jane. I’ve added your site to my blogroll too, and I’ve added your feed to my Google Reader. Cheers!
added you to my links :)
Thank you Jake :)