View from Little Nap Coffee across from Yoyogi park

Little Nap Coffee の窓から、いい景色が見えます。

Looking towards Tokyo from the Presidio

あっちは日本でしょう？

View from the UV tent of the mouth of Tokyo bay and across to Chiba

太陽に敏感な人のためには、UVテントがいいと思います。三浦海岸から、東京湾の入り口の向こうに千葉が見えます。

For those sensitive to the sun, a UV tent is essential. An early beach day at Miura Kaigan, towards the southern tip of Kanagawa.

Shinjuku cemetery framed by mysterious new construction

新宿二丁目のお寺に、細い６階のビルを建てています。お墓の前には、大きな窓が一つしかありません。使い道は、お葬式かゲイバーではないだろうか。

I am confused by this new 6 story tower at the corner of a cemetery in Nichome. There are few windows, except for this giant floor to ceiling view of the graves on the first floor. Will this become 6 stories of micro-bars? Or is it a new vertical space to perform funerals and ceremonies for the dead?

With the fence down, the view out back looks like a deep jungle

塀がないと、庭がとても深く見えます。左側のヤシの木はハワイから来ました。

The palm on the left side comes from high altitude Hawaii, and is uniquely suited to San Francisco’s cool ocean-side climate.

Viewing Tokyo from within the gates of the Imperial Palace

皇居の中から、丸の内を見るのは不思議な感じがします。前年、二回、皆が入ることができます。

A strange feeling to be leaving the Emperor’s home after his birthday address, with a view of the Marunouchi and Tokyo Station district from inside the imperial gates. The public is invited inside only twice a year.

View from front door is all rubble and heavy labor

玄関から、瓦礫と働く人が見えます。

A closer view of decorative grass on Tokyo balcony

小さな植木鉢の草がもっと詳しく見えます。色と動きがあって、大好きです。

The color and movement of this grass growing in a small flowerpot are very enjoyable.

View across Tokyo towards Sky Tree as the sun drops lower

マンションの廊下から見えるスカイツリーの景色が大好きです。密度の濃い都市生活はワクワクさせてくれます。

I love this view of Tokyo from the window next to our elevator. Tokyo is at once dense and variegated, with a mix of two story residential buildings and ten story mid-rises, the towers of Higashi Nakano and Nakano Sakaue, and in the far distance, Sky Tree.

View towards Koenji from hallway makes me wonder where are the trees?

高円寺の方角の景色はきれいだけど、木が見えませんね。

The opposite side of the apartment from our balcony is a hallway with an enormous view of inner west Tokyo, including the Chuo and Sobu line trains. There’s a serious shortage of trees and open space.

Kitchen, balcony, and city in one frame, plus new summer fig tree

この視点から、台所やベランダや都市景色が枠のなかに見えます。前景には、今年の夏に買ったイチジクがあります。

This is the view from one end of our narrow balcony to the other, facing east towards Shinjuku. The twin towers are the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings, and to the right is the Park Hyatt hotel from the movie Lost in Translation. In the foreground is the fig tree, a new addition this summer.

The view from the kitchen out to the balcony and the city. A floating sky jungle makes me feel at home.

台所から見えるベランダの庭と都市の景色は、空を流れているジャングルみたいです。植物のおかげで、くつろげます。

Our kitchen has sliding glass doors that open out to the balcony. By early summer, the green curtain and shrubs have filled out, providing some privacy and the feeling of a floating sky jungle. The plants make me feel at home.

Outer moat viewed from the Ichigaya JR station platform

市ヶ谷ホームから、素敵な外濠が見えます。

In a city with surprisingly few water views, this JR station at Ichigaya looks out onto the Outer Moat (Soto Bori). It’s a beautiful site from the station platform, a wide river and natural bank lined with cherry trees.

Our view from the living room includes green curtain and the cityscape

リビングルームから、ベランダと都市の風景が見えます。

I am surprised that the Okinawa morning glory on our balcony continues to bloom into November. The benefit of having a very small apartment is that you are always close to the window, the garden, and the city around you.

Dramatic view down Ome Kaido towards Nakano Sakaue

江戸時代に作られた青梅街道は、とてもモダンになりました。背が高いビルがある中野坂上です。

I love the dramatic clouds, and how Nakano Sakaue beams with light and activity. The building in the southwest corner of the main intersection has an awesome, transparent erector-set spine in the middle of two office columns.

Ome Kaido is one of west Tokyo’s oldest and longest streets. In its current incarnation, it is six auto lanes wide and the fastest route between Shinjuku and Ogikubo. Underneath is the Marunouchi Metro line.