Good spot for Tokyo skyline

Hi all,

I wanted to go to Mori Tower to take a great picture of Tokyo skyline and Tokyo Tower but yesterday I saw on their website that Mori Tower is closed until April unfortunately.

Do you know other great spots instead of Rainbow bridge and Government building? Because at these places I've been already twice. I would like to find something new.

Or is there a spot in Yokohama to see Tokyo completely?

Thank you very much in advance!

How about Tokyo Skytree?

Three free options:

http://traveljapanblog.com/wordpress/2014/09/free-aerial-view-of-tokyo...

http://traveljapanblog.com/wordpress/2013/04/sunset-from-the-shinjuku-...

http://traveljapanblog.com/wordpress/2015/01/tokyo-from-a-glass-elevat...

The WTC observatory gets my vote

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3057.html

Tokyo skytree is probably the best.

If you are extremely lucky you can get a photo like this if the weather is perfectly clear and it is the right time in the evening.
http://dickh.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v105/p891687387-4.jpg
Where? http://www.gotokyo.org/en/kanko/bunkyo/spot/40229.html

Dick H, I didn't know the Pez Dispenser was oriented that way! I thought it was more to the SkyTree and areas north.

John,
I was there only once and it was not good weather so I only looked toward the Shinjuku area. The photo is from a Bunkyo-ku site I found a long time ago.

Judging from the compression I think you need at least a 400mm lens to get that Mount Fuji shot.

I took this at 200mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tequilazu/9210875110/in/set-7215762939603...

as for Skytree, of all the observatories that I visted IMO Skytree was the most disappointing one, Mori Tower is my favourite.

SkyTree is too far away from any major buildings and that's why it's a disappointment. I took many from the Mori Building last May fortunately, because it will be closed when I go again in March.

As for the Pez Dispenser that is the Bunkyo building, I think there's a restaurant or eatery that faces that direction and it wasn't open that time of day when I went.

I think I will try the WTC this time around.

And there's no building in Yokohama that is close enough to see Tokyo's skyline unless you get a long telephoto and since most places don't allow tripods, it'd be hard to get a good long-exposure shot for night scenes. During the day there is too much haze to be able to get a clear shot of anything from the Landmark Tower in Yokohama.

Hi all,

thanks for all these proposals! I went to WTC yesterday and it was very good! Although I think they don't want to have photographers there because they put little small blinking things EVERYWHERE which reflects in the windows. I put my pullover and jacket over these things (still I had the exit icon in my photo sometimes) and they put my jacket and pull away again :-(

But after using photoshop I think the pictures will be nice! Thanks a lot for that proposal!

@ Dick H
And yesterday I went to Bunkyo Civic Center while sunset. I had an awesome view on Fuji-san :-)

Thanks for that!

Thanks. That's great to hear. I was hoping to see it from there, but no luck. Maybe next time. :)

From the top of Sky tree, Tokyo seems to be seen by "google maps"...

http://www.soleilrouge.org/tokyo-sky-tree-enfin-on-monte

From Tokyo Tower, the view is more balanced:

http://www.soleilrouge.org/tokyo-tower-plein-la-vue

Tocho, the government building of the Tokyo prefecture also offers a beautiful view of the city:

http://www.soleilrouge.org/gratte-ciel-a-shinjuku

Glad you were lucky to catch Mt Fuji at the bunkyo city center. Did you see people use tripods? I clearly saw the signs saying it was forbidden. So I was glad I left my tripod at the hotel. But later after sunset I saw some gaijins planting their tripods on top of the ledge...

No, nobody used tripods. I saw one guy who had a tripod but he wasn't sure if he may use it :-D he was looking around all the time but didn't use it.

I don't know if it really is forbidden, I didn't see any sign that it is forbidden. But when the sun disappears after Fuji-san, it is so overcrowded there so you actually cannot use it. After sunset many people leave immediately. I think if you use your tripod later on, nobody will care...

Have been there today again, it was even better as yesterday because there were no clouds around Fuji-san :-)

Hey Dick H,

especially for you :-) The picture I made today:
http://www.directupload.net/file/d/3885/qzm5xjqa_jpg.htm

Best regards and thanks a lot!

Very nice. Thanks. I'm envious.
When I lived in Tokyo, those crystal-clear mid-winter days were wonderful.

Very nice Fotoman, such a clear sky!

As for the sign, it was written in japanese. But my take is, before sunset it's really crowded and tripods are forbidden. With several security guards roaming around. But they disappeared just like the crowd after sunset. That's when I saw a few guys storming in deploying their tripods. As if they knew the right time to come in. Anyway, I was upset because I'm doing my best to obey the rules. This happened at other places too.

The Mori Tower is awesome, but closed. I also tried the SkyTree, Bunkyo and Tokyo Tower but didn't see Fuji from any of them last year.

The other day, on the 60th floor of the Sunshine 60 tower in Ikebukuro: Fuji. Yay. It may have had more to do with the weather, but it's a nice deck that rarely gets a mention.

There are restaurants on the 59th floor but the 60th (which also has an aquarium) wasn't very busy on a Sat. afternoon and has a very nice cafe (with a heck of a view).

Note, you will buy a single ticket on arrival on the 60th floor, so be prepared for what you want to see, deck, deck+aquarium etc.

Staff generally Japanese lang only, but lovely. The base of the building is full of shops. Leads out on to the Otome Road and even has a 3-way Shibuya-like crossing nearby. Ikebukuro is making a real effort. Just make sure that you leave the station on the correct side-it is a bit confusing when you are in the station, so check the dept. store when you emerge.

If you come out the wrong side, there is a little pedestrian tunnel under the tracks, just past the station in the direction of the tall white chimney (which is the rather amazing Toshima Waste Incineration Plant).

Nothing tops the Mori though, IMO, so pencil in a visit on your next trip.