東京 Tokyo

Every era of the Tokyo’s history is present in this drawing, from the old Imperial capital to the modern day office towers. The focus is the historic Tokyo Station in Marunouchi District (if you look closely you can see a Shinkansen and a Yamamote Line Train arriving). To the west is the Imperial Palace complex and its serene gardens. In the distance are the districts of Nihombashi and Ginza. I've wanted to draw this part of Tokyo since I visited in 2018 but for a long time didn’t know how to best present it.

There is so much movement in this part of the city, from the busy station and plaza to the dramatic and dense skyline. I wanted to get the sense the area is bursting from the page. The Imperial Palace is a tranquil space that I felt should contrast with the urban districts. I was surprised while both exploring the city and making this drawing how much of historic Tokyo remains. I’d assumed that apart from a few major buildings the old city had almost all been lost during the war and the economic boom years. Looking closely though, there’s a lot of variety remaining in the city, and some districts even have some of the older wooden pre-war buildings. Along with my own photography from 2018 I used up to date aerial imagery and images of new developments in the area that were posted on internet forums. Fortunately, as a landmark central city area, there was plenty of material. This allowed me to complete this from Taipei.

Below are some of my photos of the area and progress videos. The pictures include a few historic buildings that now have large modern towers growing out of them. This seems to be a common trend in the area. I loved the early 90’s style Toyota taxis and the various turrets around the palace.