More from the in-law’s archives, as it were, this time from my father-in-law’s past. The above photo was taken in 1959, when he was 15 years old and on a school trip to Tokyo. He and his classmates (he’s in the foreground, on the right) are looking up at the Tokyo Tower, which had been completed the year before. It was his first trip to the big city, from his home up north in Yamagata prefecture. At the time of its construction, the Tokyo Tower was, at 333 meters, the tallest tower in the world, surpassing Paris’ Eiffel Tower, on which it was modeled, by some 30 meters.
It’s poetically fitting for me that these young and wide-eyed teens are beholding something that in a way originated in Paris, for when I first came across this photo, I was instantly reminded of Eugene Atget’s famous photo (1912) of a Parisian crowd looking up at a solar eclipse, an image the Surrealists later appropriated for the cover of their magazine.
The first time I saw Tokyo Tower was when I was in high school. 🙂
I’m really enjoying these photos. I’m so glad that your inlaws are sharing their photos and stories with you so that you can share them with us. When you began your weblog you wondered whether the world needed another person rambling online. Kurt, the answer is absolutely!
M, I’m glad you’re enjoying this “series”. And thank you for such nice comments. Encouragement like that keeps me going!