To the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatory

It rises up as though it could pierce the sky.

The other day, I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku to renew my driver’s license.

I enjoyed the roughly 15-minute walk from the west exit of Shinjuku Station.

With the Shinjuku Center Building, where I worked part-time as a student, on my right, I passed the Keio Plaza Hotel and then saw the First Main Building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government rising high into the sky on my left.

My destination that day was the Second Main Building, so I walked on a little farther.

When the fifth-generation owner was a student, this was a vast site where a water purification plant had once stood. In winter, I would take ski buses departing from here and go skiing with friends several times a year.

Reminiscing about those days, I made my way up to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

The license procedure was completed without a hitch, and since it was just lunchtime, I thought of going to the cafeteria. But I felt reluctant to intrude on the employees’ precious lunch break as a member of the public, so I decided against it.

Instead, I went up to the observatory in the First Main Building.

Since it was a weekday, I was able to take the elevator without much of a wait.

And there were many international visitors at the observatory.

Everyone was enjoying the panoramic view from high above, smartphones and cameras in hand.

The direction of Mt. Fuji seemed especially popular, and the fifth-generation owner joined in and took some photos too.