This is a footbridge over a large road called Koshu Kaido. It is connected to a part of Shinjuku Station's south exit and crosses over to Shinjuku Southern Terrace, which has a lot of shops and restaurants.
This section of Koshu Kaido is actually also a bridge that crosses over train lines that run below it. Approximately 60,000 cars and 140,000 people use this street everyday, which was built in 1925.
Tokyo National Highway Office has started a big project to renew this whole area for not only safety reasons but to reduce traffic and to make it more convenient for pedestrians. It is due to be completed sometime around 2015. (If anyone is interested, you can see the footbridge and the construction area on youtube here.)
Click below for more photos of wonderful bridges around the world!
That is one extremely busy road and bridge!
ReplyDeleteWish our government has the same planning skills as yours seem to have.
That's no little town you now live in, Kaori! A busy street! No wonder the pedestrian overpass was built... with more to come. HK is full of these too. But I don't see too may such structures outside of Asia.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaori! What an enormous city Tokyo is.I saw it several times when I was on my way to Australia, when our plane flew over Tokyo.We landed on Narita airport and had to stay there before we could continue our journey. I am impressed by the size of this footbridge. Thank you for sharing and also for visiting.
ReplyDeletethe JR logo made me miss tokyo even more. ^0^
ReplyDeletei love connecting bridges, saves a lot of time and more systematic.
It is a much safer way to cross that busy thoroughfare. I have seen such pedestrian bridges in the US as well.
ReplyDeleteIt looks soooo busy but the fact that it is busy makes the photos come together and look really good. Without the cars and people, it would look eerie!
ReplyDeleteAh, that’s more like it. Being tall, as I am, that top photo was close to my usual perspective. Ha ha. I can see part of the building I worked in for 13 years but I preferred getting there via the underground route. It was faster that way, not having to wait for traffic signals, and great in bad weather. Not as crowded either.
ReplyDeleteI find it of interest that the train station we can see the southern exit of in your bottom photo has a bit more than 3 million people entering and exiting every day as shown here.
So, the Majaraja Indian restaurant is still going at the Odakyu Southern Tower. Yum.
Thanks for this one Kaori.
A busy intersection, I'd like to watch it from that bridge, which is absolutely elegant and cool!
ReplyDeleteIf you feel like a change of pace from the Southern Terrace Starbucks, and if you don’t mind “slumming it” in Yoyogi there might still be a Starbucks in Maynds Tower (the black building above the Toyota sign). You can see in the above link another bridge, but alas, not in Shinjuku. Just keep walking south on Southern Terrace until, and across, the bridge. I liked the cushy sofa they had a decade ago. Directions here.
ReplyDeleteMost impressed by how clean everything looks and that there seems to be made usage of every single inch of space.
ReplyDeleteAlways a safe step ahead and a good new week as well.
daily athens
It must be a very busy area. Bicycles parked on a main road? very impressive!
ReplyDeleteTQ for visiting Poring Canopy Walkway Bridge
Love these pics - gives a feel of the place.
ReplyDeleteHi you guys, thank you for all the comments! I use this station all the time so I sometimes forget that it's one of the most busiest stations in the world and can be quite interesting to watch!
ReplyDeleteI heard somewhere that people in the city are actually a lot more fit because they walk up and down the stairs all the time...wonder if it's true? ;D
I love these photos, Kaori! They bring me back to my visits in Tokyo and even my 5 days spent at the Keio Plaza Hotel back in July 1989!
ReplyDeleteThat photo captures the bustling of that place. Makes my stomach knot up just thinking about being in such a crowded area. I guess I am not a city girl, but I sure do like to experience it from afar!
ReplyDeleteI bet there are some great views of the city from that bridge.
ReplyDeleteActually THE busiest, to quote from my link above: “...the station was used by an average of 3.64 million people per day in 2007, making it the busiest train station in the world in terms of number of passengers.” That is people entering and exiting the station, not just passing through.
ReplyDelete«Louis» apologizes that he is so busy on the weekends he is rarely able to comment on those who post to Sunday Bridges. He appreciates your contributions!
ReplyDeleteI like these photos. They really show what a city in Japan is like. (Thanks for commenting in my blog, Kaori).
ReplyDelete