The golden turd...

[Mikes]

... on top of the Asahi Beer Hall in Tokyo designed by Philippe Starck. Distinctive indeed!

Some details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asahi_Beer_Hall

Tokyo Skytree in the background.

[Jakov Minić]

if they were to paint it orange, it would be a carrot

[Frank Fremerey]

Raddish???

[Akira]

No intention to degrade Mike's image, but we nasty Tokyo dwellers commonly call it "S#%t".   

[Ron Scubadiver]

I believe it is supposed to be a flame, a symbol of the beer's mighty head.

[Mikes]

Thank you all. Its certainly puzzling.

I believe it is supposed to be a flame, a symbol of the beer's mighty head.

More like an homage to Mr. Hankey! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hankey,_the_Christmas_Poo

[Mongo]

Mongo never though he would be commenting on this sort of subject - a huge "dropping".  It occurs to Mongo that some crazy person dreamt it up. However, then, far more crazy people agreed it was a good idea and involved architects, engineers etc. Then, the local authority must have been crazy to approve it in all its unaltered glory. A lot of crazy money must have been thrown at it also. Without doubt, there must have been a lot of crazy going on to get it to this stage.

The only sane thing about it is that now, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) think that it is c#*p and crazy to have built it !! Don't you just love the way humans go about things....

Mike, thanks for introducing Mongo to this interesting piece of urban history........Mongo is still giggling !   (BYW - nice depth of colour and definition in the image)

[Mikes]

Mongo never though he would be commenting on this sort of subject - a huge "dropping".  It occurs to Mongo that some crazy person dreamt it up. However, then, far more crazy people agreed it was a good idea and involved architects, engineers etc. Then, the local authority must have been crazy to approve it in all its unaltered glory. A lot of crazy money must have been thrown at it also. Without doubt, there must have been a lot of crazy going on to get it to this stage.

Thanks, Mongo. It is hard to believe that, during the concept/selection/design/approval/commissioning/construction phases, someone did not say "woah, this looks too much like a ....".

I had not seen this sculpture before, and couldn't resist the urge to dig out the camera.

[Hugh_3170]

Mike, a colourful image at least.

And it won't get burgled up there either! 

[Frank Fremerey]

https://www.google.de/search?q=rettich+mit+messer&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3rdWK3ZrLAhVqIpoKHZsVC9kQ_AUIBygB&biw=1920&bih=1091#tbm=isch&q=wei%C3%9Fer+rettich

[Jan Anne]

Drinking Asahi beer will never be the same again

Btw, they recently bought Grolsch which is what I have in my fridge at home, will pay attention on any suspicious flavour changes

[Hugh_3170]

Oh hell - Grolsch is one of my favourites.

There and then again, Asahi have purchased many New Zealand and Australian breweries, so I really should not be so surprised.

I too will pay attention to any flavour changes. 
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/cartoon-smiley-emoticon-holding-beer-illustration-46948479.jpg

Drinking Asahi beer will never be the same again

Btw, they recently bought Grolsch which is what I have in my fridge at home, will pay attention on any suspicious flavour changes

[Mikes]

A little more enlightenment - "Designed by French architect Philippe Starck, the golden flame is supposedly beer foam rising from the beer mug-shaped building below." From Japan Visitor Blog: http://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2009/03/asahi-flame-asakusa-golden-turd.html

So there you have it. Interestingly, the "mug-shaped building" below has no glass windows - only the tiny portholes set into the black granite walls. More information for anyone interested in the architecture - http://bento.com/arch/abh.html

 Another view: