annular solar eclipse, Tokyo Skytree and Tohoku Rokkon Festival

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, my sister was transferred to another hospital for inspection. She is now safe, and my mother returned home from the hospital. I've returned to my everyday life.

_IGP8445 by INABA Tomoaki　/flickr
Annular Solar Eclipse in Mito,Ibaraki
at 07:38:40 on May 21st in 2011

An annular solar eclipse occurred on May 21st. Many people saw it despite overcast weather in many areas.


Solar eclipse, Japan, 日本, 金環日食 by ivva /flickr

In Yokohama, the sun peeked out between the clouds at the time of annular solar eclipse. It went like this.

ASAKUSA 2011 by saotin /flickr 

Tokyo Skytree, the 634-meter-high TV transmission tower in Sumida Ward of Tokyo, opened to the public on May 22nd.

押上天祖神社と東京スカイツリー 
by norio.nakayama　/flickr

Tickets to the TOKYO SKYTREE TEMBO DECK (350m) from May 22 to July 10 are by advance reservation only. Tickets to the TOKYO SKYTREE TEMBO GALLERIA (450m) must be purchased at the Ticket Counter located on the TOKYO SKYTREE TEMBO DECK.






Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo 
by Ari Helminen /flickr

It rained on the day of the tower's grand opening.




Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo
 by Ari Helminen /flickr

The height of the tower "634" can be read as "musashi" in Japanese. Musashi(武蔵) is an old province straddling Tokyo, Saitama and Kanagawa Prefectures.

Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo 
by Ari Helminen /flickr 

The techniques of building the ancient towers is utilized for building Tokyo Skytree. The ancient earthquake-resistant design has been adopted toward this new tower's building design.
(refer to previous post for further information. )

東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by
 Kentaro Ohno /flickr

東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE 
by  Kentaro Ohno /flickr
 

東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE 
by Kentaro Ohno /flickr



P5060401 by Zengame /flickr 



20111223 東京スカイツリーライトアップ 
by Zengame /flickr 

Tokyo Skytree opening day


東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by Kentaro Ohno /flickr




東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by Kentaro Ohno /flickr




東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by  Kentaro Ohno /flickr




東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by  Kentaro Ohno /flickr




東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by  Kentaro Ohno /flickr



東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by Kentaro Ohno /flickr


東京スカイツリー TOKYO SKYTREE by Kentaro Ohno /flickr




Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo by Ari Helminen /flickr




Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo by Ari Helminen /flickr




Grand opening of the Sky tree , Tokyo by Ari Helminen /flickr





東京スカイツリー by nambon /flickr
On March 6th in 2011

On march 11th in 2011, the quake measuring a lower 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 struck this tower under construction. No one was injured, and no damage was done to the tower.

Although a series of aftershocks affected its construction schedule, the tower reached 634 meters in height one week later.

Sumida by loveloveshine /fllickr
On March 19th in 2011

DSC_3103 by al-hayat /flickr 

Tohoku Rokkon Festival 2012(東北六魂祭) is being held at Chuo Avenue and Morioka Castle Ruins Park (Iwate Park), Morioka City,Iwate Prefecture on May 26th and 27th. Rokkon(六魂) means six souls.

DSC_3086 by al-hayat /flickr 

You can see six major festivals in Tohoku Region including the Aomori Nebuta Festival(青森ねぶた祭), the Akita Kantou Festival(秋田竿燈まつり), the Sendai Tanabata Festival(仙台七夕まつり), the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival(山形花笠まつり), the Morioka Sansa Dance(盛岡さんさ踊り) and the Fukushima Waraji Festival(福島わらじまつり) at once.

The festival started to liven up Tohoku Region and encourage people to come and see these festivals last year. About 360,000 Visitors poured in to enjoy the festival from all over the country last year, so Aomori Nebuta and Akita Kanto were cancelled in the parade for the safety of visitors.