Inappropriately named buildings, and in particular apartment blocks, are common in Tokyo. Invariably in a foreign language, they are presumably designed to give the structure a certain amount of style and modernity. Possibly even sophistication. A peculiar practice I personally gained experience of very soon after arriving here, as the first place I properly called my own was somewhat ludicrously called, Maison D’or. The monicker so utterly unsuited to the obscenely cold, one step above camping accommodation it actually was, that simply just Maison would have been overly grand.
And yet even that arguably pales into insignificance when compared with this preposterously named place.
Martin says
Well they could not name it Gloomy Towers which would be my choice.
Benjamin says
“Gloomy Towers”. Sounds like a British sitcom waiting to be made.
Lee says
Gloomy Towers would be a great name — for the building and a sitcom!
A new trend of naming buildings in an honest manner would be great. Modern But Quickly Dated Heights for example, or Wafer Thin Walls And Next To Insulation House.
Hans ter Horst says
Pretty random name 🙂 Great angle BTW.
Lee says
It is, isn’t it? I think there’s a company somewhere that comes up with all these names. Either that or it’s a computer programme that just spits out random names.
Cheers! I was praying no one would exit the building, as I had to squat very awkwardly right by the door to get the shot.
winnie says
The name is not suitable to this building.
Sorry but I think should name ” claustrophobic building”. I feel trapped and the sunlight or air seem to be out of my reach.
But whatever, how inappropriate the name is, I learn to accept it, because this is what made Japan so interesting and amazing country to live. 🙂
Lee says
Yeah, that would be a lot more appropriate.
It is. Little things like this make everyday a little different, and all the more interesting.
Iwao Yamamoto says
Even for Japanese myself I think some of the naming of apartment houses is very queer; the French names of which most Japanese people don’t know its meaning are seen everywhere around cities. I wonder why they name the apartments in French. Probably I think we can feel exsotic by the French names. Today we seldom speak English or use it in front of public but we can understand very easy English words so we call them in English names whatever they are inappropriate to the environment. I think English native people feel strange and funny but for Japanese it doesn’t matter at all I think.
Lee says
Yeah, I think there’s a certain element of exoticism or sophistication about it. Or at least the hope of it.
But that’s very true, nobody seems to care whether they are appropriate or not, and I guess that’s all that matters. And certainly not what people like me think!