Tokyo's Big! Yeah yeah yeah!

It's not small! No no no!

This is a view towards Shibuya and Shinjuku from the main observation deck of Tokyo Tower. I climbed 500 meters up the central stairs to get to this two-story deck. The line for the elevator to the very top was so long, I decided to walk as far as they'd allow. I'm not squeamish about heights, just about human constructions that take us to those heights. I don't trust 'em. So huffing and puffing my way up some steel steps was actually more comfortable for me than taking the elevator and watching Tokyo vertiginously fall away from my feet, thoughts of structural and mechanical failure rampaging in my mind, sending panic-currents flowing through my nervous system.

The observation deck was crowded, due especially to the holiday. I went to Tokyo Tower during Golden Week, that special time of the year when three national holidays in a row shut down a lot of businesses and send families hither and yon across Japan in search of fun. I don't know what someone who suffers from both acrophobia and agoraphobia would do at Tokyo Tower; I don't recommend you try if you have both these fears unless your doctor recommends it as some kind of immersion therapy.