Television Tower: Tokyo (Japan)

The Japanese wanted to build a copy of the French Eiffel Tower. As a result, in the late fifties of the twentieth century, the Tokyo television tower was opened. The attraction turned out to be higher than the original and enjoys no less demand among tourists.

History of construction

The tower was built not only to have an analogue of the French landmark, but also to meet the need for public television and radio broadcasting. And that the capital was not oversaturated with the number of towers with antennas, the Japanese government decided to build only one, but powerful enough. So the Television Tower of Tokyo 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 altitude should be simply as high as possible for high-quality television and radio broadcasting within a radius of one hundred and fifty kilometers.

The construction of the tower was developed by the engineering company Nikken Seckei and the chief architect Tatu Naito. Thanks to them, the television and radio tower was resistant to serious earthquakes and typhoons. The tower was built by the efforts of several hundred Japanese builders.

The grand opening of the Tokyo tower occurred in December 1958.

Characteristics and interesting facts

Television Tower Tokyo:

1. The height is three hundred and thirty-three meters.
2. Weight - four thousand tons.
3. Illumination is one hundred sixty-four spotlights.
4. Color - twenty-eight thousand liters of white and orange paint.
5. The material used to build the tower is high-strength steel, part of which is refined American tanks.

Interesting Facts:

1. Every five years, the Tokyo Tower undergoes restoration and repainting.
2. Until 1987, the illumination was much more modest. The management decided to modernize the lighting system in order to attract more tourists.
3. At different times of the year the tower is highlighted in different ways: from July to October - white, from October to July - orange. For 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 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Japanese-Irish relationship, and annually in the National Month for the Prevention of Breast Cancer (October 1) - pink.
4. To transfer some images on the tower during the promotional actions, the observation platform windows (observatories) are used.
5. Despite the fact that the Tokyo television tower was built more than half a century ago, it is still considered a modern landmark.
6. Colors for painting the tower were chosen with the aim of ensuring aviation security.

The appointment of the Tokyo television tower

The television tower Tokyo (Japan) is a huge tourist-entertainment complex, in the walls of which are concentrated:

• Tourist area;
• A television and radio broadcasting area;
• Viewing platforms.

At all levels there are small cafes and buffets, places for rest, shelves with booklets. And in souvenir shops you can buy towers of different size and composition (plastic, glass, iron) and objects with the image of TV tower (for example, T-shirts, pictures and posters, cups and other utensils, magnets, key rings, etc.).

Tourist zone

Tourist zone - this is the first four floors of the television tower, which are:

1. Ground floor: main entrance, aquarium with more than eighty kinds of fish, a large restaurant that can accommodate up to four hundred people, three elevators.
2. Second floor: various shops and restaurants.
3. The third floor: museums of wax figures and Guinness Book of Records, a holographic exhibition.
4. The fourth floor: a free exposition of achievements in the field of electronics and communication technology from the Fuji-Teraby and Terso companies, a well-known exhibition of optical illusions, and here is also a museum with the history of the Tokyo TV tower (here you can see various photofacts, layouts, historical references and etc).
5. Roof: there is a park with a few simple children's attractions.

Also in the tourist area you can find two talismans of the tower - humanoids in blue and red overalls. Their growth is two meters twenty-three centimeters.

The total number of shops on the territory of the television tower exceeds several hundred.

Radio and TV broadcasting zone

On the floors closed to tourists and visitors are:

• Television and radio studios;
• Antennas of eight television stations;
• TV cameras that monitor the main highways of the capital;
• Scientific equipment (for example, seismographs, anemometers and so on).

With the transition of Japanese TV in 2011 to digital format, part of the broadcast was transferred to a new TV tower "Heavenly Tree", 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 and thirty-four meters. And the antennas of those stations that remained, had to be increased by twenty meters - from eighty to one hundred.

Viewing platforms (observatories)

Observation sites are only two:

• At a height of one hundred and fifty meters: the lower viewing platform;
• At an altitude of two hundred and fifty meters: the upper observation deck.

Lower - two-story. On the first tier there are: a scene for live musical performances, a club and a small cafe. There are also two zones with a viewing window in the floor. On the second tier there are souvenir selling points and Shinto shrine. The total area of the lower observation platform is one hundred and forty-seven square meters.

The top platform is completely glazed. Both sites are equipped with special terminals, each building can be viewed closer to each building and more interesting details can be found about it (for example, the height that is inside and so on). Also on the monitor is the ability to view a video about how the city changed over the past day and the map from the satellite.

Both from the bottom and from the upper observatory you can see a panoramic view of the capital, and on a clear day you can still see the volcano of Fujiyama and Tokyo Bay.

How to get there?

Address of the television tower: 4, Sibacoen, Minato, Tokyo 105-0011.

The Tokyo Television Tower (Japan) is located close to Onarimon and Akabanebashi metro stations. The first is located on the metro line of Mita, the second - Oedo.

You can also get there from the railway station Yamanote-Hamamatsu. 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 into the TV tower any day.

Rates:

• 900 yen (7 dollars, 380 rubles) - visit only the main observatory (observation platform);
• 1600 yen (12 dollars, 675 rubles) - a visit to two observation platforms.

Tickets can be purchased at one of the cashiers located at the entrance to the first floor. The waiting time in the queue rarely exceeds ten to fifteen minutes.

To date, the number of people who visited the Tokyo television tower in its history, more than one hundred and fifty million. During this time, even the belief appeared that if lovers would admire the tower at the moment when the night illumination is turned off (exactly at midnight), they will live happily ever after.