Yumi Matsutoya/Seri Ishikawa -- Te no Hira no Tokyo Tower (手のひらの東京タワー）

(cover version)

If I can wax anthropomorphically for a minute, just imagine on this day that Toronto's CN Tower and Tokyo Tower meet in a hotel top bar, get a drink and wistfully reminisce about their heydays in decades past. They're not bitter and wish their next generation, Tokyo Sky Tree, all the best as it launches today. If I'm not mistaken, the world's tallest tower has been open for about 40 minutes as I write this, and when it did, I'm sure ol' CN (the former world's tallest tower) and Tokyo Tower (the architectural symbol of Japan's capital city) must have sighed.

Anyways to get back on track, to commemorate this day, I've decided to introduce or remind page viewers about this song by Yuming（ユーミン）from her 1981 album, "Sakuban Oaimashou"(昨晩お会いましょう....Let's Meet Last Night) which hit No. 1 on the charts. "Te no Hira no Tokyo Tower"(The Tokyo Tower in the Palm of Your Hand) refers to those tower models that one can buy at the souvenir shop in the tower itself. The singer takes on her more sing-song voice, perhaps, to give a kid's view on the famous landmark, while the melody has this lovely mellow groove.

In the same year, Seri Ishikawa（石川セリ） did her own cover of the song on the album "Hoshikuzu no Machi de"(星くずの街で....On the Stardust Avenue). Same groovy arrangement except for an additional filtered sax in the mix.. It's all good....

Toronto's CN Tower (553 m)

Tokyo Sky Tree (634 m)

Tokyo Tower (333 m)