Yes, the best artists steal. posted by From Bklyn at 12:40 AM on April 5, 2011
Strangely enough, the name "Tokyo Sky Tree," though seemingly in English, is actually Japanese for "Tokyo's Giant Eyesore." It's funny how language works sometimes.
Tokyo time-traveling-seeing-into-the-future ukiyo-e dude kakkoiiiiiiiii !!!! posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:35 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
BTW, I see Sky Tree pretty much every day (it's visible at several points in my neighborhood) and I've noticed that the construction cranes near the top, normally moving about, have been straight up and unchanging in their position since 3/11. I've been wondering if maybe construction has been halted since the quake. No news on that, though, that I can find, anyway. posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:41 AM on April 5, 2011
But the object in the woodblock print has at least three crosspiece thingies on it, and the images of the Tokyo Sky Tree show that it has only two rings or whatever breaking up the silhouette. So clearly the artist must have been seeing even further into the future when an even larger three ringed Tokyo Sky Tree will be built. He's an even greater prophet than we thought! posted by Kevin Street at 1:42 AM on April 5, 2011 [7 favorites]
It was the transmitter for Radio Free Edo. As opposed to the radio-free Edo we have been dealing with up until now. posted by GenjiandProust at 2:56 AM on April 5, 2011 [4 favorites]
flapjax, one of the things my friends and I have wondered about was, well, the earthquake happened just before 3 pm. Wouldn't that mean the guys at the top would be still at the top when it hit? Then add to it that more than likely the elevators they ride up there (and back down) would have stopped? When, and how did they get down? If they were up there, I don't even want to know how bad it was at the top, though I imagine it would have been pretty vomit inducing, which leads to other, much, much less pleasant questions about people who live close to the tower.
No amount of money could get me to work up there. Then again, I've had outright panic attacks in cable cars on windy days, so that's just right out. posted by Ghidorah at 3:27 AM on April 5, 2011
My god...has anyone considered the terrifying implications here? It means time travelers have somehow acquired the technology to make ukiyo-e prints!
...and if you look very carefully in the background, you can see a weird hipster-looking guy and an old lady talking on a cellphone. posted by PlusDistance at 3:58 AM on April 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
How 'bout the B-52s flying overhead? posted by Faze at 4:19 AM on April 5, 2011
I...fuck.
Carl, if you're reading this, you're a douche. I'm going to sort this out for you just like I sorted out the last three fucking times, but so help me God, if there's a next time your grandfather gets it right between the fucking eyes. posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:28 AM on April 5, 2011 [11 favorites]
great-great-grandson. I mean, didn't you study in time-travel logistics 302? Or were you always hungover from those jaunts to the 2350's? Man, those were the days... posted by Ghidorah at 7:00 AM on April 5, 2011
Time travel aside, though, has anybody checked with the architects as to whether they based their design on classic architecture? I think coincidence is much more likely, but that does seem possible to me. posted by you're a kitty! at 7:18 AM on April 5, 2011
lookout tower>
Or perhaps it was near the new year season, and the firemen built a very tall tower for their exhibition that year. posted by woodblock100 at 7:21 AM on April 5, 2011
nobody has commented on the fine asses of those two fishermen?
metafilter, am disappoint :D posted by liza at 7:39 AM on April 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
How many of us saw this woodblock print before today?
Exactly.
The museum curator crayoned it in when we weren't looking. posted by storybored at 7:42 AM on April 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
*rolls eyes* You guys, it's not the Sky Tree. Let's not be ridiculous.
It's clearly an Edo era high definition wood block print transmitter. posted by gc at 7:43 AM on April 5, 2011 [5 favorites]
KAWASAKI, Kanagawa -- A tower resembling Tokyo Sky Tree -- the world's tallest broadcasting tower currently under construction in Tokyo's Sumida Ward MOST OTHER TALL THINGS -- has been found depicted on a landscape ukiyo-e woodblock print from the mid-19th century, attracting public attention at a museum here.
Those will have yet to be the days, my friend,
We thought they will have never ended.
We'll sung and danced, forever and yesterday. posted by maryr at 8:52 AM on April 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
Wait. So you're telling me that once someone made an illustration of a tower and now there's a tower being built in Tokyo?
My mind. It is... it's... well... I guess it's the same as it was before I saw the two unrelated and dissimilar towers. posted by eyeballkid at 9:08 AM on April 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
The important question is of course... Have they factored in the Godzilla problem ?
You know he's gonna be swinging about; "Hey King Kong ! Look what I'm doing !" posted by Webbster at 9:54 AM on April 5, 2011
Has anyone checked to see if that big ass wooden bridge on the right side of the print resembles a bridge that exists right now? posted by zzazazz at 9:59 AM on April 5, 2011
Wait. So you're telling me that once someone made an illustration of a tower and now there's a tower being built in Tokyo?
Well, the curious point about the thing is that there were no such towers - of that kind of height - back there in those days. The fire tower visible to the left of the mystery tall one is a typical example of the tallest things that they built. It defies common explanations, and we're left with wondering why on earth Kuniyoshi would fantasize about an impossibly tall structure towering over the city, back the days when such things were completely inconceivable. posted by woodblock100 at 2:16 PM on April 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
Pfffft. Eiffel Tower meets Space Needle. Ripoff!
I wonder why 1. obvious penis-envy projects became popular while big, blocky pyramid-style projects went out of style? (At least they served a purpose.) 2. Why do people tolerate these (let's toss in the ISS) extravagant statements of vanity? Are they not just facile substitutes for the future we really want, and will forever be denied?
If you meet Ozymandias on the road, kill him! posted by Twang at 2:22 PM on April 5, 2011
those two fishermen?
Cylons. The tower has happened before, and it will happen again.
Oh, me? No, I'm a space angel. posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:26 PM on April 5, 2011
Those will have yet to be the days?
Those will have yet to have been the days. For most instances of have. If the tachyon field is right. posted by Ghidorah at 4:29 PM on April 5, 2011
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posted by woodblock100 at 12:31 AM on April 5, 2011