Tokyo Tower is a beacon of the present and the legacy of the past
Since its construction in 1958, Tokyo Tower still maintains its popularity in the city, attracting many visitors every year.
The beauty of numbers
The Tokyo Tower was opened to the general public on December 23, 1958. The tower is 333 meters high, and at the time of its construction, it was the tallest free-standing tower in the world, ahead of the Eiffel Tower.
Total construction costs reached 2.8 billion yen, and 220 workers participated in the construction. Because computers did not exist at that time
All the calculations were done manually and took a year and a half. The tower was designed to be resistant to earthquakes and other disasters.
When architect Naito Tacho was asked about the tower’s design, he replied: “It was the result of the quest to build a solid structure without waste. “One could call it beauty created by numbers.”
At the same time, it was necessary under the Civil Aviation Law for structures above a certain level to have a distinctive red and white color combination.
(Technically, the color red is described as “international orange.”").
Read also:Sanqin Park(Buildings equipped with high-bright aircraft warning lights are exempt from this law, which explains why the taller Tokyo Sky Tree is not painted the same colors.)
Visitors can take a tour of the reservation-only upper platform and look down from a height of 250 meters to see sites such as Mori Park, Roppongi Hills Building, Zojoji Temple, and Shiba Park, which look like miniature gardens.
The tour can also include the main platform at 150 metres, welcome drinks and photography services are also available. It is also possible to ascend to the main open-air platform by climbing 600 steps in a journey that takes approximately 10 minutes.
On the big screen
Many couples and families come to Tokyo Tower as sunset approaches. Where they can first enjoy watching the lighting of the tower, and then view the city from the observation deck.
There are two main types of lighting in Tokyo Tower. First, the Landmark Lights, which seem to illuminate the tower's interior in orange most days of the year but switch to silver lights in the summer.
Read also:Ginza District and Nihonbashi BridgeIts 180 bulbs are manually replaced twice a year. Secondly, the Infinity Diamond Veil consists of 268 LEDs that can create a wide range of shapes.
The colors every Monday evening are different depending on the month. There are also special lighting for events and promotions, and messages may be displayed on the window frames of the observation deck.
Tokyo Tower's association with the city's post-war renaissance and prosperity may be why it appears so often in films. He appeared in the movie “Always:
“Sunrise from Third Street” in 2005 while it was under construction and in its sequel in 2007 while it was fully under construction. The tower was also accompanied by cinematic monsters such as Godzilla and heroes such as Ultraman, and was sometimes destroyed in the movie.
Magic that never fades
Even after the construction of the Tokyo Skytree in 2012, which took many of the functions of the Tokyo Tower, the latter still operates as a wireless communications tower and still maintains backup broadcast equipment for digital terrestrial broadcasting and transmission of some FM signals.
Registered in 2013 as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan, in 2018 the tower's two observation decks were renovated and renamed Main Deck and Top Deck in celebration of the tower's 180th anniversary. Since that year until now, the total number of visitors has exceeded XNUMX million visitors.
Read also:Visit the Dinosaur Research Center in JapanTokyo Tower's stature increases throughout the seasons. Around Children's Day, May 5, 333 carp-shaped banners decorate the facade of the tower, and around Tanabata Festival, July 7 (the day the Landmark Light turns summer), a special lighting display represents a path. Milky Way. There are also seasonal projections. On nights that coincide with a full moon, the upper half of the lights are temporarily turned off to enjoy the view of the moon. It is possible to reserve a spot to view Hatsuhinoi at the first sunrise of the year from the tower, while the Highball Gardens on the tower's roof are popular in the summer to escape the heat. Hato bus tours that pass the Skytree and Tokyo Towers attract many visitors.
More than six decades later, Tokyo Tower still retains its magic among those who climb to the top of the tower or who simply look at it from afar, and is an enduring symbol of the Japanese capital.
Nearby tourist places are recommended to visit
- Zojoji Temple
- Hamarikyo Gardens
- Sheba Park
- Atago Temple
- Odaiba
Official website
(Original text in Japanese, translation provided by Japan in Arabic)
