Visit Japan with Google Earth

Last month I got a new computer, a Windows Vista PC with enough power to run Google Earth! I’ve been playing with Google Maps a lot lately, particularly after I discovered you can manually alter the zoom level to go in further than you thought possible, like this section of Africa in which you can clearly see a man with his camel.

Google Earth is even more fun than playing with the satellite photos on Google Maps.

Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips.

Fly to your house. Just type in an address, press Search, and you’ll zoom right in.

Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions.

Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.

Save and share your searches and favorites.

Here are some screenshots I took on my ‘flight’ from space to the Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo.

Tokyo, one of the world’s most densely populated cities…

Zooming in on the Imperial Palace Gardens…

And across to the Mori Building in Roppongi Hills…

Google Earth is a great toy. It’s free to download and you’ll find yourself checking out sights you’ve never seen before, from angles rarely seen by anyone. Zooming in on the Mori building as I did above, brings up a plethora of little buttons which show beautiful photographs taken from the skyscraper and surrounding areas. Fly around Mount Fuji, visit the Japanese alps, or go to Okinawa. You’ve got the whole world at your fingertips.

The Google Earth download page lists the requirements your PC or Mac needs to run the program, and I guarantee that if your machine is up to it, you’ll zoom in and out, and glide around the globe so smoothly, you’ll think you are flying.

If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!