Kengo Kuma designed Viewing Tower

Viewing towers everywhere around the world are often quite similar in design and purpose. They allows us to look at a place from a distance or from somewhere high in the sky. In almost all cases, we are only interested in admiring the distant sight and not the observation tower itself. However in my recent trip driving through the Seto Inland Sea, we stopped at an observation tower that is unlike most others. It is located on Kirosan Park 龜老山 on Oshima Island - one of the largest island in the Seto Inland Sea and is closest to Shikoku. It is also designed by one of the most well known Japanese architect today - Kengo Kuma- in 1994. The viewing park is about 10 minutes drive uphill from the nearest highway exit. Once you get to the top of the hill, the road becomes quite narrow. There are two parking lots and the one at the top can allow for about 10 cars to park. There is also a small shop selling drinks and souvenirs. The signs would then direct visitors to walk up the viewing deck which is on the left side. The walk is about 5 minutes up a few flights of stairs that looked almost like a contemporary art museum. At this point, we saw many visitors simply posing on the staircase instead of going to the top for the scenic view. why? because it just looked so cool! The view from the top is of course spectacular. It has a panoramic view of the Seto Sea , but most importantly it has a view of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge - which consists of 3 successive suspension bridges, and was the world’s longest suspension bridge ( total length of 4015 meters) when completed in 1999. The bridge connects Oshima and Shikoku. We were lucky to have visited on a clear day, and it was so easy to see the bridge and the beautiful surrounding scenery. Many visitors also stood at the top deck to have their photos taken - they all appeared to be standing in the sky! I would highly recommend to stop by the Kirosan Park Observatory to enjoy nature and architecture at the same time! There is no fee to visit nor for parking, and it is opened 24 hours daily. #we-create #japan #architecture #kengokuma #shikoku #setoinlandsea