Tokyo Friendfinder
So, there we were on a jetfoil in Tokyo Bay the other day, cruising back from a DWT jaunt to Kozu-shima when we spotted this rather attractive monolith in the ocean just to the southeast of Haneda airport.
Naturally, being inveterate trivia hounds and as no-one on the ship seemed to have a clue, we hit up Google Maps to find out what it was — perhaps an alien artifact? A floating sushi restaurant?
Well, it seems the truth was a whole lot more prosaic, but nonetheless interesting. After spotting the mystery object on the satellite view (here), we switched to the map (here) to discover a humble ventilation shaft outlet from the underlying Tokyo Bay Aquatunnel that links the airport and Kanagawa Prefecture with Chiba Prefecture, thereby cutting out central Tokyo’s clogged arteries.
Apparently, the entire project, including the bridge that dives into the ocean to meet the tunnel, took 30 years to complete. Interesting. More info here for the die-hard tunnel fans.
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04:24 PM 
Mark Hiratsuka •
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Japan | Off Topic 
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