Tokyo Tower (東京タワー Tōkyō tawā) is a tower in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, whose design is based on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The Tower is 333 meters tall (9 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, or 33 if the latter's TV Antenna is not included) making it the world's highest self-supporting iron tower.
Unlike the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo Tower is located in the middle of a city block. The tower only weighs about 4000 tons, which is extremely light compared to the 10100 ton Eiffel Tower, and it is painted in white and orange according to aviation safety regulations.
In the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan was looking for a monument to symbolize its ascendancy as a global economic powerhouse. Looking to the Occident for inspiration, the Tokyo Government decided to erect its own Eiffel Tower. It was completed by the Takenaka Corporation in 1958 at a total cost of ¥2.8 billion. At the time it was built it was the tallest structure in Tokyo, but it has since been superceded by several buildings in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro districts.
Although it is often compared to the Eiffel Tower as being taller and lighter, Tokyo Tower is not a work of architectural beauty like the Eiffel Tower. Thus, it never became as famous, beloved, and symbolic for Tokyo as the Eiffel Tower became for Paris. Although it chiefly functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna, the Tower is best known as a tourist destination.
The first floor houses an aquarium, home to 50,000 fish, the third floor a wax museum and an attraction called the Mysterious Walking World, and the fourth floor a Trick Art Gallery. There are also two observatory floors, the main observatory (at 150 m) and the so-called "special observatory" (at 250 m); both afford a spectacular 360 degree view of Tokyo and, if the weather is clear,
Mt. Fuji.
In much the same way the Eiffel Tower has become a cliche in American cinema, the Tokyo Tower is often used in anime and manga, with series such as Digimon, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo!, X, and Magic Knight Rayearth often featuring climatic events occurring at the Tokyo Tower. It has also been used often in the monster films by Toho, having been destroyed by Mothra, Godzilla and also the location of the final battle of King Kong Escapes in which King Kong takes on his mechanical double.
Tokyo Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.
Address: Nippon Television City Corporation 4-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato-Ku Tokyo, Japan 105-0011
See also: List of towers
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