Gateway Skies
If this scene speaks to you, prints and downloads are available:・Order prints, digital downloads, or commercial licenses・Explore gifts and merchandise
If this scene speaks to you, prints and downloads are available:・Order prints, digital downloads, or commercial licenses・Explore gifts and merchandiseWhen Airplanes Meet Architecture: Watching the Skies Above Takanawa Gateway・羽田空港に向かう飛行機とリンクピラー・ワン北棟の新しい都市景観
After taking in the vivid “100 Colors” artwork outside the recently opened Takanawa Gateway Station, the steady hum of airliners overhead quickly caught my attention.
I’m not an aviation enthusiast by any stretch, but I’m always drawn to aircraft in the sky above my neighborhood when out walking the dog, whether it be a U.S. Navy jet from NAF Atsugi, an army helicopter from Camp Zama, a commercial flight to and from Haneda Airport, or even the Fujifilm blimp that once drifted along the Shonan coastline (maybe it still does?).
Perhaps the most striking aerial “show” I’ve witnessed in recent years was the formation of five or six helicopters buzzing above the Imperial Palace during one of the rare occasions when the public is allowed inside the grounds for the Emperor’s New Year greeting.
Watching another jet approach Haneda from Minato Ward, framed against Tokyo’s new Link Pillar One North Tower beside Takanawa Gateway Station, made me wonder if the local residents here eventually tune out the constant sound of planes overhead, or does it remain an unavoidable part of daily life in the city that they just have to deal with?
Photo 1.
Timestamp: 2025/07/16・17:46
Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter
ISO 320 for 1/250 sec. at ƒ/8 (moderate crop)
Velvia/Vivid film simulation
Photo 2.
Timestamp: 2025/07/16・17:58
Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter
ISO 160 for 1/320 sec. at ƒ/4.5 (heavy crop)
Velvia/Vivid film simulation
References:
