Handpicked experience · Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Thirteen metres taller than the Eiffel Tower on purpose, built partly from tanks bought as scrap, and eventually out-transmitted because the city grew into its signal.
Mount the Tokyo Tower Main Observatory deck which is situated at 150m up!
Get unparalleled views of the Tokyo cityscape.
Take beautiful photos at this famous landmark of the Tokyo skyline.
Snap Instagram-worthy photos of the vast metropolis.
Try out the "Open-air Outdoor Stairs Walk" and climb up 600 steps reaching a height of 150m!.
A full circle of windows at 150 metres
Sightlines across the bay and the western skyline
A staircase option for anyone who would rather climb than queue
Shops and cafés in the building at the base
A short visit that fits into an afternoon elsewhere
Admission to the main observation deck of Tokyo Tower at about 150 metres, with a full circuit of windows over the city, the bay and — on a clear day — Mount Fuji.
A lift up, a single circular floor to walk round, and as long as you want to spend there. An hour is ample. Everything is indoors and step-free once you are up, and there is an open-air staircase for anyone who would rather climb.
The tower was finished in 1958 at 333 metres, which is thirteen metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. That was not a coincidence. It was built to be the tallest self-supporting steel structure in the world, and it succeeded — while weighing barely half what the Eiffel Tower does, because sixty years of steel metallurgy had happened in between.
Japan in the 1950s had limited steel to spare. A substantial share of what went into the upper structure came from American tanks damaged in the Korean War, bought as scrap, cut up and rolled. The tower is, in a literal sense, made of armour that had been shot at a few years earlier.
The orange and white banding is not a design choice. Aviation rules required the tower to be painted in high-visibility colours, and it has been repainted in the same scheme roughly every five years since. The job is done by hand and takes about a year from start to finish, which means there is usually scaffolding somewhere on it.
Tokyo Tower was built to carry the city's television transmitters. It worked until Tokyo grew upward: as buildings passed two hundred metres, they began to block the signal in parts of the city. That interference, not fashion, is why a far taller broadcast tower was eventually built across the river, and why this one now transmits comparatively little.
The outdoor staircase from the base to the main deck has around six hundred steps and is open in daylight hours in decent weather. It takes most people fifteen minutes, the view improves the whole way up, and there is a certificate at the top for anyone who wants proof.
There is a second, higher level above this one, reached by another lift and its own queue. Mount Fuji is visible on perhaps a third of winter days and far fewer in summer, so treat it as a bonus rather than the reason to come. This booking does not carry free cancellation.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
About 150 metres, reached by lift, with windows all the way round. The tower itself stands at 333 metres.
To beat the Eiffel Tower by thirteen metres and take the record for the tallest self-supporting steel structure. It manages that at roughly half the weight, thanks to sixty years of progress in steelmaking.
In part. A significant share of the steel in the upper structure came from American tanks damaged in the Korean War and bought as scrap, at a time when Japan had little steel to spare.
Aviation regulations require high-visibility colours on a structure this tall. The scheme is repainted by hand roughly every five years, and the job takes about a year.
Because Tokyo grew upward. Once buildings passed two hundred metres they blocked the television signal in parts of the city, so a much taller transmitter was built across the river.
Yes, in daylight and reasonable weather. The outdoor staircase has around six hundred steps, takes most people about fifteen minutes, and comes with a certificate at the top.
Sometimes. It appears on a fair share of clear winter days and much less often in summer haze, so it is worth hoping for rather than planning around.