Sunday, April 30, 2006

Tokyo high-rise

Tokyo Tower diagramThis diagram at the SkyscraperPage gives you a great overview of Tokyo's high-rise buildings (incl. Tokyo Tower, pictured on the left).

On number one, the not yet completed, 610m Sumida or Shin Tokyo Tower. If you think Roppongi Hills is bad, you better NOT check out the Sumida Tower website's video section - expect to hear loads of crappy marketing slogans à la "Tokyo's new landmark" and the like.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Oh Jimbou!

Jimbou sealYeah, a cheezy title - I know. This is an absolute must-see for book lovers though: Book Town Jimbou.

The site's Jimbou Navi section features a nice and easy-to-use flash map that comes in handy if you're searching for bookstores specialized in specific literary genres. There's also an "old books" database, where you can search on title, author, etc. Great for those who want to do some research before diving into the Jimbou jungle - surprisingly, online shopping functionality is also available, so you can do all your Jimbou shopping from home.

And then my favorite part: a tour around 151 (!) book stores, giving you an idea what you can buy for a 3000 Yen budget. The presentation format is great, and the section's individual items are linked with the earlier mentioned Jimbou map and database. Good stuff. (Minor nitpick: those terrible <table> tags!)