- Shake, rattle and roll
- 04 December 05
- Travel
- 2 Comments
The bi-laterals concluded today was obstensibly a study trip. We beagn by going to the "Tokyo Midtown" project at Roppongi. Along the way I had the opportunity of getting a reasonable photo of one the gazillion skyscrapers here.
The Midtown project is a $4 billion commercial, residential, retail and public space/amenities development in the heart of Tokyo. Once completed it will be the tallest building above sea level in Tokyo. It had one of the cleanest construction sites I've seen. This photo shows that even the cranes on the site are quite beautiful. The building will house a 5 star Ritz Carlton Hotel on the top 9 storeys. The development exceeds the Japanese building code by 25% and can withstand eartquakes of 7+ on the japanese scale...this is the equivalent of 8 on the Richter scale. The development has special damperners to absorb the shockwave of tremors, and the building will not collapse when the big one hits Tokyo. Why mention earthquakes I hear you say.....tell you later.
From there we went to Tsukuba about 75 kms from Tokyo to visit a research centre where they do a lot of structurual engineering testing. They have the largest load bearing analysis lab in the world, it is possible to build a 7 storey building and shake, rattle and roll it, and collapse it to see the stress points in the building.
From there it was time to return to Tokyo, but not until we stopped by a sake factory. Sake is made of rice and I'm really addicted to it now. If ever you this sign outside shops etc, it means sake!
After few tasting sessions at the cellar door back to Tokyo. The traffic was OK but we didn't get back until 7:00 PM, so headed back to the first restaurant I visited on this trip.
I proceeded to have the same meal again: tempura vegetables, sashimi and beef carpaccio as well as the obligatory 3 ales and 3 sakes, not bad for a solo diner - I now believe that Lost In Translation has summed up something like no other move has before with respect to the alienation of being a foreigner in a non-English country......I must watch it again now.
Back to the hotel to work out what to do tomorrow....when the building starts gently swaying about foot (30 cm ). Yep, a tremor (possibly an earthquake). Firstly I thought my head was spinning from the alcohol (it probably was as well), but there was a real feeling of motion sickness, albeit slight, until the shaking stopped. This from the Japan Today website:
2 quakes hit eastern, northeastern Japan
Friday, December 2, 2005 at 22:42 JST
TOKYO รณ Wide areas of eastern and northeastern Japan were hit by two earthquakes Friday night, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The first quake at 9:54 p.m. had a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 and jolted extensive areas of the Kanto region, including the Tokyo metropolitan area, while the second quake, which struck at 10:13 p.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, affected mainly the Tohoku region, the agency said. No tsunami warnings were issued.
Ironic given the scandals here regarding private certification of buildings by one architectural firm which falsified data and effectively built scores of apartments that do not meet the requirements of the building regulations. The hotel I'm staying in obviously suffered no damage at all, amazing what engineering can do provided no one cuts corners! Interesting way cap off the day as well. <<Older Main Newer>>
comments
I was right. You are addicted to the liquids and if I ever see a giant pom-pom in ACT will know it is your house!
Please don’t tell me you are a developer but an engineer or government worker who rebukes development without being paid off by the developers for ignoring the non regulation bits! Guess you would be extra aware of the dangers either way, now you have experienced a quake!
Posted by Anonymous on 04.12.05 at 01.14pm
Just popping in to say: I have a new blog URL. (Same old blog though.)
Posted by andrea on 04.12.05 at 02.23pm