Ikebukuro street night view

I'm always fascinated by cityscapes seen from above, because depending on the height, you can get very different impressions: from very tall buildings, like the view from the observatory of the Tokyo Sky Tree, you have all the city under your feet, the small buildings are indistinguishable and all you notice are the large landmarks. It really looks like a model city...

From a lower altitude, you'll get a more nuanced view, all the buildings are clearly visible and, if you watch closely, you can distinguish cars or trains and the city becomes alive.

And the view becomes even more interesting if you zoom in (that's why I always take my long lens when I visit an observatory), virtually descending into the city, so that you can see the passersby, the trees and even the billboards, like in this photo from Ikebukuro (if you wonder, the photo was taken in 2010 and that huge banner is an advertising for one of Nana Mizuki's albums).