Maritime Oddies of Chuo City

Chuo is one of the five special wards of Tokyo, with a resident population of 170,000 that swells to 650,000 due to the influx of daytime workers. With its proximity to the ocean and canals in use since the 1650s, Chuo has a rich maritime history, which helps contextualize our handful of unusual discoveries along the Takeshiba pier.

 The Passenger Ship Terminal is a departure point for Izu and Ogasaware islands, with an overarching nautical theme, including this mast and rigging surrounded by walkways and elevated trains. A variety of sparrows and crows made for good nature sightings in the area as we warmed up for our day's walk.

 

Maintaining tidal and rainfall water levels steady since 1970, the Hama-rikyu drainage pump station is one of 4 key water management facilities and also totally looks like something out of Dune.

For those of you wondering what a Japanese nightclub owned by Jules Verne would have looked like (you know who you are) we have great news! The 'Hotaluna' is the second of three vessels designed by anime creator Leiji Matsumoto (note to my mum - he ALSO created "Albator" which I used to watch on the French channel in the 1980s - small world) which can carry up to 120 passengers for cruises around Tokyo harbour.