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Is this Tokyo, or Final Fantasy? Rainy season night makes for incredible Skytree view【Photos】

Casey Baseel Jun 28, 2020
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Nighttime photography specialist is in the perfect spot at exactly the right time.

With a height of 634 meters (2,080 feet), the Tokyo Skytree is one of the tallest things humankind has ever built. It’s so tall that when you look at it, it’s almost hard to reconcile a structure of its stature being something that exists in our reality.

Oh, and that’s under normal conditions, too, like any random afternoon when you happen to look up at the giant spire that rises up from the city’s Sumida Ward. And should you happen to see it as photographer Junya Watanabe (@jungraphy__ on Twitter) did on a recent night? Then you’ll probably go from simply doubting that the Skytree is part of the real world to being completely convinced that it’s part of a fantasy or science fiction one.

https://twitter.com/jungraphy__/status/1275012648124313600

Japan is in the middle of its early-summer rainy season, but a momentary break in the clouds, coupled with the reflective puddles of the just-fallen rain, make for such a contrast of light and shadow that at first glance you might not even notice there’s a person standing on the pedestrian path in the above shot.

The photos were taken in the vicinity of the Jukkenbashi Bridge, next to a waterway that flows east from the Sumidagawa River and right by the Skytree. While the Skytree is Tokyo’s greatest modern marvel of engineering, much of the surrounding area is less developed than other parts of downtown Tokyo, letting the brightness of the tower’s beacons shine in an otherwise comparatively dark night sky.

Online reactions to Watanabe’s photos have included:

“All the rain we’ve been getting in Tokyo had me feeling down, but if this is the tradeoff, I can deal with it.”
“So the final boss lives in the Sky Tree?”
“If you saw this with your friend, you’d have to say ‘So that’s where the villain is?’ ‘Yes. It’s been a long journey, but we’re finally here.’”
“I think it’s the final disc one dungeon, where one of your party members sacrifices himself so you can escape from the boss, because you can’t damage it with your attacks.”
“After seeing the demonic red Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, this Skytree looks like the fortress of the champions of light.”

▼ As further proof that the scenery looks as much like something in Final Fantasy as it does Tokyo, someone added Tifa (Final Fantasy VII’s best female character), and she doesn’t look remotely out of place.

違和感0 https://t.co/4fZN2MDoZL pic.twitter.com/4ITgG8JWV7

— WowWowYeah!!!☃️#Mooove!ひなのんだけの！！！！！！！！！！☃️💙🐾🌈💖 (@AynLoveWowYeah) June 23, 2020

Watanabe bills himself as a specialist in night photography, and a look at some of his other work proves it’s no false claim.

https://twitter.com/jungraphy__/status/1274644105755164672 https://twitter.com/jungraphy__/status/1259786130704089088

It’s not like he has to wait for the sun to go entirely down before he can capture breathtaking images, though.

https://twitter.com/jungraphy__/status/1268841230353330176

With another week or two left before Japan pulls out of the rainy season, we could be seeing more photos from Watanabe like his recent Skytree pictures, but even if we don’t, we’ve got a hunch he’ll be finding amazing scenery in Tokyo throughout the year.

Source: Twitter/@jungraphy__ via IT Media, Maido News via Livedoor News
Images: Twitter/@jungraphy__
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