Spam From Japan: First Sunrise of 2011

Ever read a great blog post, wanted to share, then couldn’t remember where you left it?Subscribe to the RSS feed for blog updates.

The Rainbow Bridge is open overnight only at New Year, so you only get a chance to see (and photograph) the sunrise from it once a year. The first sunrise of the year is called hatsuhinode in Japanese and is generally considered to be something special.

To get to the Rainbow Bridge’s pedestrian walkway, take the Yamanote Line to Tamachi Station and walk from the East Exit until you see those giant pillars in front of you. We found conflicting information online, so we initially chose the north side of the bridge. We took the elevator up to the walkway around 5:45am, knowing that the sunrise was around 6:50am. Even so, the sky had already turned into a near-perfect rainbow gradient. Below us, we could also see cruise liners setting out for the middle of the harbour for the sunrise. New Year is probably one of the few times where you could persuade people to pay more for a cruise at 5am.

With about forty minutes to go, it was clear the light was brightest on the south side. Although I’d got into a very good position, we decided to take the elevator back down and take photographs from the opposite side.

The south side was much better and I was able to take some great photographs with the rainbow sky reflected onto Tokyo’s skyline. But maybe the view would be even better closer to Odaiba? With twenty minutes to go before sunrise, we left a pretty good spot and walked onwards.

The next spot was a bit more crowded, but with great views of Fuji Television Studios and even the moon. Ten minutes to go.

Finally, we reached an area that wasn’t a look-out spot, but where the bridge curved towards the north and the wire fences came down. It was perfect. It was crowded.

People pushed up against the railings and police stood at the back. An older policeman laughed fatherly as two students jumped over the pedestrian barriers and into the road to get a better photograph, then tossed them back on the walkway. In many ways, the anticipation reminded me of the time I climbed Mt Fuji. Everyone was in good spirits and it was easy enough to get a clear shot as the first rays peeked over the horizon. Some people broke into applause.

Photos are below. To my readers, thank you for sticking with this blog and I hope 2011 is filled with happiness and fun new experiences for you.

A boat sets out for Tokyo Bay.