Guest Author - Jillian Michelle Williams
Surpassing even the Eiffel Tower’s height of 320 meters, Japan’s Tokyo Tower, which reaches 333 meters tall, has been the world’s tallest self-supporting steel tower since its opening in 1958. Due to advances in steel manufacturing and construction technology, Japan’s tower is also much lighter than its Parisian model. The Eiffel Tower weighs 7,000 tons, while Tokyo Tower only weighs about 4,000 tons.
Built to represent Japan’s rebirth as a major economic power, Tokyo Tower doubles as a television and radio broadcast antenna, as well as a popular tourist attraction. It transmits 24 broadcast waves in total, including 14 analog waves and 10 digital waves, and most broadcast stations in Tokyo rely on the tower to transmit their signals.
Visitors can experience stunning views from the tower’s main observatory, which is located at a height of 150 meters and offers a 360 degree view of the whole Kanto Region surrounding Tokyo. The main observatory also houses its own Shinto Shrine, a coffee shop appropriately titled Café La Tour, and a goods shop which sells traditional Japanese items, as well as Tokyo Tower models. The observatory even has its own club, Club 333, which features a DJ on Friday nights and concerts on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with live music such as jazz, R&B, and bossa nova.
A Special Observatory, located at 250 meters, provides visitors with even better views of the city. From the tower’s top floor, viewers are given the chance to see as far as Mt. Fuji and Mt. Tsukuba.
For those wary of heights, even more attractions can be found on the ground floors of Tokyo Tower. Located at the base of the tower, underneath and separate from the main structure, is “Foot Town,” a building consisting of four floors of fun activities. The first floor features a restaurant, a souvenir shop, a convenience store, and even an aquarium. A food court, which even includes a McDonald’s, can be found on the second floor, as well as more places for shopping.
Tokyo Tower Wax Museum and the Guinness World Records Museum are located on the third floor, and a games room is located on the fourth floor. The top floor is also home to Trick Art Gallery, which uses advanced technology to create 3-dimensional versions of world famous pictures and sculptures.
If visitors still haven’t had enough fun, they can always visit the amusement park, which is located on the roof of Foot Town, alongside the rooftop garden.
