WHAT MATTERS WEBLOG

Tokyo Tower, (C) Maximilian Staedtler, WHAT MATTERS WEBLOG

The Tokyo Tower - one of the many landmarks of the Japanese capital - is the bright highlight of Tokyo’s breathtaking night skyline. When I took this photo from the Tokyo World Trade Center in June of 2009, I was inspired by the amazing atmosphere of the city. The endless concrete jungle with over 35 million inhabitants becomes all the more appealing when the gray concrete facades vanish and leave a sea of millions of little flashing red dots. I have seen many skylines during the last year, but Tokyo’s was the most mind-boggling of all. Even Manhattan appears tiny compared to Tokyo. 

The Tokyo Tower itself has been the tallest building in Japan ever since its construction was completed in 1958. As the Japanese use to say, it looks like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, only more beautiful and more impressive. And needless to say, it is slightly taller than the original from France.

Now the Tokyo Tower is set to lose its title as Japan’s tallest artificial structure to the new Tokyo Sky Tree which is currently under construction and expected to open for the public in 2011.

The new tower - which will be a broadcasting tower just as the Tokyo Tower - will stand 2,080 feet (634 m) high, almost twice the height of the Tokyo Tower. The site of the new one is in the outskirts of Tokyo, on the shore of the river Sumida, just behind the famous Asahi Brewery in Asakusa.

Here’s the view on the Asahi building from the top of the hotel I stayed at. The Tokyo Sky Tree is being erected just half a mile behind the Asahi building.

Asahi Brewery Building on the shore of the Sumida River, Tokyo, Japan

The boat you can see on the river is the so-called Asakusa-Odaiba water bus which links the artificial island of Odaiba in the Bay of Tokyo with the cultural hotspot of Tokyo, Asakusa. I can only recommend taking a ride on this futuristic boat. The view from the boat is fantastic and one gets a good idea of the cityscape of modern Tokyo.

More information on the water bus: http://www.sunnypages.jp/travel_guide/tokyo_leisure/water_busses/Asakusa-Odaiba+Direct+Line/1875

For more information about my trip to Japan, check out Category Japan:

http://www.whatmattersweblog.com/category/japan/

For further reading:

Japan in Deflation - don’t underestimate the Japanese consumer!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 6:23 PM and is filed under Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.