"Look up at the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superman!" "No—it's a helicopter!!" (See the photo sequence at bottom; squint hard.)
The new Superman film "Man of Steel" opened August 30, so I tried for a laugh (and slipped!!). I wonder if younger people still think of this line when they hear Superman?
This photo, taken July 23, shows training for a Tokyo Fire Department helicopter landing on and taking off from the headquarters roof in Otemachi. Shot from Palaceside Building about 300 meters northwest. Around 10:55 a.m. a familiar red speck appeared in the western sky from the Budokan direction, hovered near Sakurada Gate circling the Imperial Palace, and landed at headquarters right at 11:00. It soon took off again, repeating landings and takeoffs.
The fire department's public relations section asked us to shoot. From a high-rise the angle would be looking down, but our building is slightly lower than headquarters—a "rare property" where rooftop filming is allowed, hence the request. Of course I said yes to both
requests—it looked fun... (Sorry if that's irreverent!). I hurried to the site to observe; that's the photo on the left.
Staff told me the Tokyo Fire Department Air Corps has bases at Tachikawa Airfield (Izumicho, Tachikawa) and Tokyo Heliport (Shin-Kiba, Koto), operating seven helicopters for aerial intelligence, firefighting, mountain and water rescue, emergency care on the mainland and Izu Islands, and deployment at home and abroad in major disasters and as emergency fire aid. Regular takeoff and landing training is conducted at rooftop heliports at headquarters, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency to dispatch crews quickly. (I tried to match their crisp PR tone.)
Around then I saw on TV a parent and two children rescued by helicopter from a flooded roof amid localized heavy rain in Yamaguchi and Shimane. Behind such dramas lie daily rigorous training—I feel humbled.
