The Japanese wanted to build a copy of the French Eiffel Tower. As a result, the Tokyo Television Tower was opened in the late fifties of the twentieth century . The attraction turned out to be higher than the original and is in no less demand among tourists.
Construction history
The tower was built not only in order to have an analogue of the French landmark, but also to satisfy the need for public television and radio broadcasting. And so that the capital was not oversaturated with the number of towers with antennas, the Japanese government decided to build only one, but quite powerful. This is how Tokyo Tower appeared (photo below).
It should be noted that it was originally planned that the height of the tower exceeded the New York Empire State Building. But the goal was not achieved trite due to lack of funds. Therefore, it was decided that the height should be just as high as possible for high-quality television and radio broadcasting in a radius of up to one hundred and fifty kilometers.
The design of the tower was developed by the engineering company Nikken Sekkey and chief architect Tatyu Naito. Thanks to them, the television and radio tower turned out to be resistant to serious earthquakes and typhoons. The tower was erected by the efforts of several hundred Japanese builders.
The grand opening of the Tokyo Tower took place in December 1958.
Characteristics and interesting facts
Tokyo TV Tower :
- Height - three hundred thirty three meters.
- Weight - four thousand tons.
- Lighting - one hundred sixty four spotlights.
- Color - twenty eight thousand liters of white and orange paint.
- The material used to build the tower is high-strength steel, some of which are remelted American tanks.
Interesting Facts:
- Every five years, the Tokyo Tower undergoes restoration and repainting.
- Until 1987, illumination was much more modest. The management decided to upgrade the lighting system in order to attract more tourists.
- At different times of the year, the tower is highlighted in different ways: from July to October - white, from October to July - orange. On some holidays, events and events, the color may be different. For example, during the premiere of the film “The Matrix,” the tower was highlighted in green, as it was for the fiftieth anniversary of Japanese-Irish relations, and pink every year on the National Month of Breast Cancer Prevention (October 1).
- To transmit some images on the tower during promotions, windows of the observation deck (observatory) are used.
- Despite the fact that the Tokyo television tower was built over half a century ago, it is still considered a modern landmark.
- The colors for painting the tower were chosen in order to ensure aviation security.
Destination Tokyo Tower
Tokyo TV Tower (Japan) is a huge tourist and entertainment complex, within the walls of which are concentrated:
- tourist area;
- broadcasting area;
- viewing platforms.
At all levels there are small cafes and buffets, places for relaxation, shelving with booklets. And in souvenir shops you can buy both tower figures of different sizes and composition (plastic, glass, iron), and objects with the image of a TV tower (for example, T-shirts, paintings and posters, cups and other dishes, magnets, key rings, etc.).
Tourist area
The tourist area is the first four floors of the television tower, which are:
- Ground floor: main entrance, an aquarium with more than eight hundred species of fish, a large restaurant that seats up to four hundred people, three elevators.
- Second floor: various shops and restaurants.
- Third floor: wax museums and Guinness Book of Records, a holographic exhibition.
- Fourth floor: a free exposition of achievements in the field of electronics and communication technology from the Fuji-terabi and Terso companies, a well-known exhibition of optical illusions, and there is also a museum with the history of the Tokyo TV tower (various photographs, layouts of the area, historical information and etc).
- Roof: a park with a small number of simple children's attractions is located.
Also on the territory of the tourist zone you can meet two mascots of the tower - humanoids in blue and red overalls. Their height is two meters twenty three centimeters.
The total number of stores on the television tower exceeds several hundred.
Broadcast Area
On the floors closed to tourists and visitors are located:
- television and radio studios;
- antennas of eight television stations;
- TV cameras that monitor the main highways of the capital;
- scientific equipment (e.g., seismographs, anemometers, and so on).
With the transition of Japanese television in 2011 to digital format, part of the broadcast was transferred to the new Heavenly Tree television tower, since the height of the old one did not allow high-quality broadcasting of channels, and the height of the new one was six hundred thirty-four meters. And the antennas of those stations that remained, had to be increased by twenty meters - from eighty to one hundred.
Observation Decks (Observatories)
There are only two viewing platforms:
- at a height of one hundred and fifty meters: lower observation deck;
- at an altitude of two hundred and fifty meters: the upper observation deck.
Lower - two-story. On the first tier are: a stage for live musical performances, a club and a small cafe. There are also two areas with a viewing window in the floor. On the second tier there are points selling souvenirs and a Shinto shrine. The total area of the lower observation deck is one hundred forty-seven square meters.
The upper platform is fully glazed. Both sites are equipped with special terminals, on their display you can look closer at each building and find out more interesting details about it (for example, the height that is inside and so on). Also on the monitor there is an opportunity to watch a video about how the city has changed over the past day and a map from the satellite.
Both the lower and the upper observatories offer panoramic views of the capital, and on a clear day you can still see Mount Fuji and Tokyo Bay.
How to get there
TV Tower Address: 4, Shibakouen, Minato, Tokyo 105-0011.
Tokyo Tower (Japan) is located near the Onarimon and Akabanebashi subway stations. The first is located on the Mita metro line, the second is Oedo.
You can also get there from the Yamanote-Hamamatsu railway station. The tower is a fifteen minute walk from the stop.
Opening hours and fees
The tower is open for visitors from 9:00 to 23:00, but you can enter until 22:30. You can get to the TV tower any day.
Tariffs:
- 900 yen (7 dollars, 380 rubles) - visiting only the main observatory (observation deck);
- 1,600 yen (12 dollars, 675 rubles) - a visit to two viewing platforms.
Tickets can be purchased at one of the ticket offices located at the entrance on the ground floor. Waiting times in line rarely exceed ten to fifteen minutes.
To date, the number of people visiting the Tokyo Television Tower in its entire history exceeds one hundred and fifty million. During this time, even a belief appeared that if lovers will admire the tower at the moment when the night illumination turns off (exactly at midnight), they will live happily ever after.