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May 26, 2015

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Where lofty skyscrapers meet natural tranquility

By Acile Zidane | May 26, 2015, Tuesday | Print Edition

Luminous flashes and streaks of vibrant, colorful lights leisurely danced and drifted across the shadowy black sky, the dazzling twinkling of the immensely bright stars flickering aimlessly as their diminutive-seeming yet radiant bodies bringing light to the night sky of Tokyo.

Tepid yellow illuminations lingered behind glossy, spotless glass windows, dim compared to the glowing, flamboyant light shows of the stars, street lights and decorations. The muffled, dull snarls of functioning engines faintly roared as the sleek, polished shapes of classy cars and slick motorbikes hastily rolled across the sooty black road in a slapdash fashion, slowing gradually as traffic lights flickered from immodest green, to amber, to bright red. The lacerated black tires of the modern mobiles squealed almost silently under the increasingly slow humming of engines.

The voluminous, lofty skyscrapers seemed to tower above all in a man’s view below, with vibrant lights flashing blindingly from the lighted signs, only to reflect the intense glows onto the elevated highways, the lively flickers of light quirkily leaping from the backs of cars onto the dull, stony black road, lingering before bouncing whimsically onto the back of a speeding mobile, then to repeat the process. Most of the tops of the colossal, ostentatious skyscrapers disappeared above the thin, hazy blanket of foggy gray clouds, the pale golden glow of their lights scarcely visible from above the misty sheet of clouds.

Tallest of all was the world-famous, absolutely massive Tokyo Tower. It shimmered in a coat of blinding amber, pastel yellow and deep, rich orange light, the warm-colored illumination beaming down on the ground below its expertly built, spacious base, generously glazing a minor spot of the city below in its dazzling, orange, amber and yellow-white light.

The sharply-pointed pinnacle of the tower rose higher than any building in a man’s sight, defying the serene layer of slim, gray clouds and shining like a functioning lighthouse in the midst of a dark, abandoned island at midnight.

Below the metropolitan city lay the iridescent, tranquil body of crystal-clear water that hazily reflected the blurry lights of the massive, modern city above.

Barely a ripple stirred in the immense, dull body of water, making it seem like nothing but part of a monochrome painting if compared to the lively city above.

In the distance, beyond the endless-seeming clusters of man-made, gigantic buildings, there lay the hazy, ghost-like shape of Mount Fuji, the height limit-defying mountain scoffing down at the pitiful buildings compared to the natural mountain. The sky-high top was capped in a layer of pure white snow, which twinkled marvelously behind the dreary cloud of fog that attempted to cover and conceal the sheer beauty of the landscape, the mountain, the city and the sea.

This was Tokyo.

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