I got to thinking that maybe I could see my new apartment building from the top of my old one, and it turned out that I could. I had to wait for a day that was clear enough, but sure enough, there it was. I could not see it from my current apartment window–a hill blocks the way. I had to go up to the 10th floor and check it out from the landing. So here it is from there:

It is, obviously, the building with the arrows pointing at it. You can see the distinctive balcony-style shift that produces that diagonal dark-light boundary across the bottom left. The big building to the right is the Sunshine 60 building.

The shot is not a bad one considering that the building is 23 km (14.3 miles) as the crow flies, or a 30 km drive.

As it turns out, you just can’t see my new apartment. It would be visible on the right lower side of the building. But do you see that low building blocking the lower right? That’s that goddamned Toyota showcase building, the same one that blocks my view of Mt. Fuji. As it would turn out, if you draw a line from Vanguard Tower to Mt. Fuji, my old apartment is directly along that path. (It’s true, I checked it out on Google Maps.) As is the fancy, gaudy, useless roof of the Toyota building. Thanks a lot, Toyota. Well, if I could make friends with the people on the other side of the floor of my new building, we could get a view… either that or just go to the observation deck of the Sunshine 60 and cough up the 600 yen or whatever they charge. Hey, I wonder, is there a place near or on the roof of my building they’d let people go? Probably not….