Help identifying pictures from 2006

Hi.
I was looking at some old photos of a Japan trip in 2006, though I cannot seem to find out where some of these pictures are from.

The first set of pictures is from somewhere in Fukuoka. Noticing a radio antenna of some sort and a park. Maybe this stuff is gone since these are 7 year old pictures:

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2u9n4b8.jpg
http://oi42.tinypic.com/2zxnh4k.jpg
http://oi44.tinypic.com/x5yush.jpg

Next set is from somewhere in Osaka. I got a slight feeling it might bee around southern Osaka (Namba or something) but I cannot figure where the oddly shaped building from the last picture is located...

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2airm7r.jpg
http://oi44.tinypic.com/2zqqv5c.jpg
http://oi40.tinypic.com/11l4jsw.jpg
http://oi41.tinypic.com/zjywt1.jpg
http://oi39.tinypic.com/n4i6bl.jpg

The final set is from somewhere in south Tokyo area. It is somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo Tower since it is visible on one of the pictures.

http://oi43.tinypic.com/33kssup.jpg
http://oi44.tinypic.com/k4dzjs.jpg
http://oi42.tinypic.com/2hdcrx2.jpg
http://oi41.tinypic.com/ayki2x.jpg
http://oi40.tinypic.com/bfl56o.jpg


Thanks in advance!

The Tokyo pictures are in Tamachi, close to the Keio University campus
http://goo.gl/maps/Y769e

Fukuoka:

The tower is KBC radio/TV station.

http://oi44.tinypic.com/x5yush.jpg
A view from the eastern side of Suzaki park (Suzaki Koen) with the river on your back. The palm trees are in the park.

Tokyo:

http://oi43.tinypic.com/33kssup.jpg
Tamachi Station West Exit crossing

http://oi44.tinypic.com/k4dzjs.jpg
5-20 Shiba, Minato-ku

http://oi42.tinypic.com/2hdcrx2.jpg
The building on the right is Ito Denki located at 5-17-1 Shiba, Minato-ku

http://oi41.tinypic.com/ayki2x.jpg
In front of Smile drug store with Keio University Mita Campus across the street on your left

http://oi40.tinypic.com/bfl56o.jpg
Facing the right-hand edge of Keio University with Smile store on your back

Sorry about the Osaka pics which had the least clues.

APaco and Uco,
Thanks very much for identifying the pictures. The Fukuoka park made sense now that I looked on the map, it was ''near'' Heiwadai Tenjin Hotel which I stayed at that time. I thought it would be more to the West of Fukuoka before. Uco you have very detailed memory/recognizion, truly amazing.

I get a slight memory the Osaka pictures might be from around Namba, still that strange building bugs me. Recent visit to Namba I did not see that building, but I might have seen it from a specific direction (maybe its gone by now?)

No, I just had a lot of energy last night, so I transfered and enlarged your photos, online-searched Japanese keywords like "tower" or any of the Japanese names on the buildings, figured out their addresses, searched them on Google map and figured out places by using their birds-eye-view versions and Google Street View.

Like I mentioned, the Osaka photos had the least clues, but if I had searched every Toyoko Inn branch in the vast Osaka area, I would've spotted it out. I'm not familiar with any of those places, by the way.

http://oi41.tinypic.com/zjywt1.jpg
Hopped to a ramdom spot on the Google map of Namba and coincidentally found Toyoko Inn, roamed along Google Street View and found out that the following pic was taken from the pedestrian crossing bridge at Yotsubashi-suji and Route 25 at 2 Motomachi, facing south.

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2zqqv5c.jpg
And this was taken from another pedestrian bridge on Yotsubashi-suji, and it's a temple in front of Namba Plaza Building which address is 1-5-7 Motomachi.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/11l4jsw.jpg
The pedestrian bridge shown around the middle of this photo is where you took the temple photo from.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/n4i6bl.jpg
I guess that if you look really hard on birds-eye-view maps, you can spot this unique roof somewhere near this vast pedestrian zone.

Also, if you can pinpoint where you took the previous/next photo to the photo in issue, then it will be easier to track your footsteps. But I'm sort of busy today :)

Uco,
You are amazing :)
The thought of using google maps never got to me, mostly because the pictures are old and it might be impossible to find it by now I think. I'll go visit Osaka and have a look :)

Again, thank you very much!

It makes much sense now why I missed the Namba area this time. I walked from Shinsaibashi subway station south over the bridge and entered Namba from the north. Talk about confusing. I know I used to visit some area (which I up till now thought was around Umeda) and then went to Namba and took the train to Shin-Imamiya.

Apparently the building with the roof is Osaka OCat terminal. I suppose there must have been an entrance to JR-Namba somewhere around that building.

Large buildings, public parks and religous facilities don't get torn down so easily, so that's what you look for when searching places on the map in your future. I was able to find the temple's roof, and then jumped to Street View where I found the company name of the building across it.

In residential areas, homes are often rebuilt, but its land property hardly changes, so you can find them by counting houses from a major crossing.

On the other hand, forests, farms, parking lots and tiny apartments tend to disappear from maps. Perhaps because of that, I couldn't pinpoint the location of your other photo of the Fukuoka tower.

These tendencies are quite universal, and it makes maps fun once you get the hang of it. I sometimes get quite obsessed with maps :) and I also search on maps as part of my profession.