[UPDATE: 1230 ET – Read comment below: someone’s “…parents’ house is in 3D” in the new Japanese dataset.]
OMG – I had already discovered Tokyo had 3D buildings, then I started looking for other places. Well, all kinds of cities in Japan now have 3D Buildings! Here is a screenshot of Osaka, Japan for example. Amazing! Turn on the “3D Buildings” layer in Google Earth and go to “Tokyo, Japan” to see them.
I’ve been searching for cities in other countries which might have been added as well. But, haven’t found any yet. Let me know if you find other cities which have been added by adding a comment below.
See the news on other layers updated in Google Earth today. Help spread the word…Digg it.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
Even cities that lack high resolution photos have 3D buildings (such as Morioka, Iwate). Unfortunately, the buildings in some of the smaller towns don’t match the photographs. My wife’s hometown, Kamaishi, Iwate, is a mess. On the plus side, her parents’ house is in 3D, which is just amazing.
This is really amazing. Even MY house is in 3D – which means that the 3D data may actually be newer than a lot of the imaging. Our house just showed up in one of the recent updates.
Hey guys just wondering.. how can i get a hold of these things for my version of google earth? i looked all over japan and nothing is 3D >_<
lol i showed my girlfriend who lives there..she was pretty amazed how you could see all of japan..
is it at all possible to download
higher resolution pictures so i can see closer?
Excellent write up, very interesting read!
if they have jarito where it can be find.
WOW , great resources – thanks a lot for creating this. I will surely take advantage of this and tell others about it.
her parents’ house is in 3D