Biking fast through asphalt and concrete corridors

東京を自転車で走るとき、大きい道路を行くのが一番早いです。山手通りの幅が広い歩道を自転車で乗ります。このオペラシティの前の交差点はちょっと怖いでしょう？

For moving quickly through the city, nothing is faster than using a bike on the main boulevards. This intersection, in front of Opera City, is particularly ugly. I stick to the wide sidewalk on Yamate Dori.

A city view without people

東京にはディストピアな場所もあります。例えば、このオペラシティーの前の交差点。よく自転車で通ります。

Often I bike under this maze of freeways, and sometimes I look up and see the Opera City tower rising 50 floors above. A city view without people and plants seems sad to me.

Biking under three levels of elevated expressway on a cloudy day

この交差点の下を、よく自転車で通ります。三つのレベルの高速道路があります。初台のオペラシティーの前で。

I often find myself biking under this intersection, outside Opera City in Hatsudai. The surface roads are wide and congested, and there’s also a newish underground expressway. This is a major corner not designed for bicyclists or pedestrians.

Landscape dead zone in posh Omotesando

なぜ表参道の交差点はこんなに醜いのですか？　表参道のケヤキ通りの近くなのに、一番大事な交差点に植物がありません。歩行者にもっとふさわしい環境を作れるはずです。

Why is this major intersection so ugly? Pedestrians deserve better.

Some people think that Omotesando is Tokyo’s Champs-Élysées. There is an incredible zelkovia tunnel and many posh global brands. However, at the main crossing, just above the Omotesando train station, the aggressively barren non-landscape is shocking. The small in-ground landscape triangle and the four above ground planters contain nothing but dry soil and some lonely weeds.

I wonder how long they will remain this way. In a city where most people commute by train and foot, the areas above stations should be amongst the greenest, with nature being used to make these frequently passed areas more pleasant and inviting.