(© Pixta) Charms UndiminishedĮven after the 2012 construction of Tokyo Skytree, which took over many of its functions, Tokyo Tower continues to operate as a radio tower, maintaining reserve broadcast equipment for digital terrestrial broadcasting, and transmitting some FM signals. Tokyo Tower and Godzilla have shared the screen in many creature features. The tower has also been a regular costar to monsters like Godzilla and heroes like Ultraman, sometimes suffering destruction in the process. It is featured under construction in the 2005 Always: Sunset on Third Street, and in its completed form in the film’s 2007 sequel. Its association with the city’s postwar rise in prosperity may be why Tokyo Tower so often appears in films. There are also special illuminations for events and promotions, and messages may be displayed on the window frames of the observation deck.Ī view from the roof of the Foot Town building, looking up at the illuminated tower. It comes on every Monday evening, with different colors depending on the month. Meanwhile, the Infinity Diamond Veil consists of 268 LED lights, which can create a huge range of patterns. Its 180 lights are replaced by hand twice each year. The Landmark Light fixture, which seems to illuminate the tower from inside, is orange for most of the year, but switches to silver lights in summer. There are two main kinds of illumination at Tokyo Tower. First, they can enjoy the tower illuminations, and then views of the city from an observation deck. When it gets close to sunset, many couples and families come to Tokyo Tower. It is also possible to climb up to the Main Deck in the open air, via 600 steps, taking around 10 minutes. The tour also takes in the Main Deck, at 150 meters, and there are welcome drinks and photography services available. Visitors can take a reservation-only Top Deck tour and look down from 250 meters up to see locations like the Mōri Garden at Roppongi Hills, the temple Zōjōji, and Shiba Park reduced to miniature gardens. Below is what looks like a miniature garden. (Exceptions are made for structures outfitted with high-luminosity aircraft warning lights, explaining why the even taller Tokyo Skytree is not the same color.)Ī view of skyscrapers from the main observation deck (left). One might call it a beauty created by numbers.” Meanwhile, its distinctive red-and-white color combination-technically the red is described as “international orange”-is a requirement under the Civil Aeronautics Act for structures above a certain height. When architect Naitō Tachū was asked about the tower’s design, he said, “It was the result of seeking stability without waste. Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force Blue Impulse aerobatic team flies above the tower. The structure was designed to be resilient against earthquakes and other disasters.

Total construction costs mounted to ¥2.8 billion, with 220,000 workers deployed, and in an age without computers, all calculations were completed by hand, but it still required only a year and a half to complete. Standing 333 meters high, at the time of building it was the tallest freestanding tower in the world, ahead of the Eiffel Tower.

Tokyo Tower was opened to the public on December 23, 1958.

Tokyo tower