Photos

A nighttime view of Tokyo from the International Space Station as it orbited 420 km (261 mi) above the island nation in February 2021. The heart of the city is brightest, with ribbons of lights radiating outward from the center along streets and railways. The regularly spaced bright spots along the ribbons heading out of the downtown area are train stations along public transit routes. The lights of Tokyo are a cooler blue-green color than in many other world cities. The color results from the more widespread use of mercury vapor lighting as opposed to sodium vapor lighting, which produces an orange-yellow light. Photo courtesy of NASA.

The city of Ishinomaki was one of the hardest hit when a powerful tsunami swept ashore on 11 March 2011. This satellite image is from three days later, when water still inundated the city. Water is dark blue in this false-color image. Plant-covered land is red, exposed earth is tan, and the city is silver. The most extensive flooding may be seen around Matsushima Air Base (lower left corner) where several airplanes were damaged and where the surrounding neighborhoods are flooded. Dark blue fills in the spaces between buildings in sections of Ishinomaki near the harbor (image center) and by the river (upper right). Photo courtesy of NASA.

This high-oblique, northeast-looking space shuttle photograph captures a portion of Southern Honshu Island and Shikoku Island of Japan. The darker areas show volcanic, mountainous terrain that comprises more than 80 percent of Japan; the lighter, more highly reflective areas of the coastal plains and valleys are urban and agricultural areas. Separated by the Seto Inland Sea are Shikoku Island to the south and the Osaka-Kobe industrial metroplex on Honshu Island to the north. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Satellite image shows North and South Korea (upper left) as well as the Japanese island of Shikoku, nestled between Kyushu to the southwest and Honshu to the north. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Mt. Fuji on the island of Honshu as seen from the space shuttle. The snow-capped inactive volcano, surrounded at lower levels by clouds in this image, lies several miles south of Tokyo. Image courtesy of NASA.

The temple gable mimics the shape of Mt. Fuji in the background.

Colorful kimonos in a Tokyo coffee shop.

Equestrian statue of the famous samurai Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336) outside of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge in Tokyo.

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Layers of green foliage along the shoreline of a Japanese garden.

Lotus blossoms.