In this handwritten and extensively annotated manuscript (pdf), Boyd reviews the Tokyo Monorail and, more generally, the state of urban development and architecture in mid-60s Japan. Published in The Australian as Modern Japan on a Concrete Beam (pdf), Boyd’s analysis of the Monorail praises the system’s efficiency and clean, contemporary aesthetic, but points out its expense and limited patronage as key failings. Observing Tokyo from this elevated view, Boyd draws contrasts with the decorative and featurist Australian ugliness, characterising the ugliness of the Japanese city instead as “a preoccupied, monochromatic, careless untidiness”. Boyd concludes the piece with an update on the architectural scene in Japan, with particular mentions of Kunio Maekawa and Kenzo Tange.

Boyd’s ride on the Monorail came during a visit to Tokyo in July 1965. On this trip Kenzo Tange escorted Boyd on a tour of his recent works in the city, including to the newly completed St Mary’s Cathedral. The resulting article, A Cruciform Window onto Heaven was published in Architectural Forum (USA) in September 1965 (pdf). The article Olympic Buildings in Tokyo (pdf), published in The Architectural Review (UK) in April 1966 draws on the same visit.