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Tokyo Tower 東京タワーTokyo Tower
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー
  • Tokyo Tower 東京タワー

The inspiration people seek: Views will differ by generation, but Tokyo Tower can be described as the “hope for a better tomorrow” or “the tower looking into the future.” Back when it was completed, and still today with its proud atmosphere that only something that has stood for over 50 years can command, Tokyo Tower will continue to have a special place in the minds of the people that come to Tokyo for as long as it stretches into the sky.   Read more

In short: There are claims that the tower’s official name is the Nippon Denpatou (“Japan Broadcast Tower”), but its official name is actually, “Tokyo Tower.” It is one of the most representative structures of Japan and Tokyo, and for many years was the world’s tallest free-standing broadcast tower. With a height of 333 meters, its steel structure creates a picturesque silhouette with its spreading skirt-like lower portion and has also been praised for its functional and architectural beauty. As Japan is a land of earthquakes, the tower was designed making full use of the earthquake-resistant structural theory that developed in Japan over the years and was built by the hands of tobi (traditional Japanese construction workers that specialize in high-rise structures) and numerous other craftspeople with Japan’s trademark attention to detail. The tower they built is still greeting an endless stream of visitors from within Japan as well as overseas. Read more

Some background: The area Tokyo Tower is located in was the sacred ground for a kofun (ancient burial mound and tomb) in the 4th and 5th centuries (it still exists today within Shiba Park). In the 14th century, the Zojoji Temple was established (it would later become the family temple of the Tokugawa line of shoguns) and the area played an important role as Edo’s urakimon (literally “rear demon gate,” a barrier to protect things entering the city from the southwest, which was considered an unlucky direction). In the Meiji Period, before the well-known Rokumeikan Villa was even built, the Koyo Hall was built here, a social club that the Japanese samurai, statesman and visionary Kaishu Katsu is said to have frequented. Entering the Showa Period, Japan’s postwar recovery was underway and the country began to regain its economic footing with high hopes of building a better tomorrow. On New Year’s Day in 1957 (Showa 32), an article titled My First Dream of the New Year appeared in the newspaper and triggered a debate for a sougo-denpa-tou (“comprehensive broadcasting tower”), and in May that year, a new company named Nippon Denpatou Co., Ltd. was established. The next month, construction on the Tokyo Tower began. Read more

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