Designed by the architect Tange Kenzo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (town hall), which bears a passing resemblance to Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, is easily identifiable. You can go up either of its two skyscraper towers (243m) to enjoy amazing views over Shinjuku. This austere building, covered in granite and solidly grounded like a fortress, may not be the most inviting but the functional nature of its monumental proportions is inspired by the impulse to rationalise a city considered by the architect to be in a state of such rapid and constant transition, that it should be strictly controlled.