Early in the year, a somewhat disappointing notice. The Palaceside Building roof is a rooftop garden rare in central Tokyo and popular especially with tenant staff. Many are soothed by the view of the Imperial Palace (Edo Castle) green to the south and the high-rises beyond.
To the north, Josui Kaikan presses close behind and it cannot match the southern vista, but seeing Tokyo Skytree (opened 2012) was a quiet pride.
And yet — it has vanished. Many may already have noticed. See the photos above. Left is November 2017, right November 2018 (both snaps from all-hands disaster drills). A building has gone up.
Check the positions on the map below.
The bluish building at the right of the top photo is Sumitomo Fudosan Kanda Building (7 Kanda-Mitoshiro-cho, Chiyoda, 20 stories); the one rising next to it is about 100 meters west — right on the line to the Skytree (about 5 kilometers as the crow flies).
Incidentally, in this blog's May 24, 2012 post "Palaceside Building from Sky
ters) =photo right. Keigetsu Hirai of the Mainichi Tokyo bureau shot it with a 200mm telephoto and cropped it. With the palace green behind, it has a fine air. Photos like that can no longer be taken.
There is still a "saving." Walk east on the roof (Hakusan-dori side) and a faint gap between the Sumitomo building and the new one still lets you glimpse the Skytree =photos left and below.
