The Tokyo Skytree, a landmark of Tokyo, is a new television broadcasting tower and a centrepiece of Tokyo Skytree Town located in the Sumida City Ward in close proximity of Asakusa. Having a height of 634 metres, it is the tallest building in Japan and the second tallest structure in the world when completed. At its base is a large shopping complex with an aquarium.Highlights of Tokyo Skytree are the two observation deck offering amazing view of Tokyo.
The two decked which are enclosed are situated at heights of 350 and 450 meters respectively, thus making them the highest observation decks in Japan and some of the highest in the world. The lower of the deck – Tembo Deck is 350 meters high with three levels providing views from all its floors while the top floor features tall, broad windows with the best 360 degree panoramic view of the city. On the centre floor is the souvenir shop and the Musashi Sky Restaurant catering to French-Japanese fusion cuisine and the lowest floor has a café and some glass panel on the ground providing an amazing view all the way down to the base of the tower.
The Tembo Deck is connected to a second set of elevators to the 450 meter high Tembo Gallery and has been dubbed as `the world’s highest skywalk’. The Tembo Gallery comprises of a sloping spiral ramp which gains height as it tends to circle the tower. Construction of the steel together with glass tube enables visitor to view down from the great height of the tower and out over the Kanto Region to remarkable distances. With its 110m long glass floor one get the feeling of walking in mid-air.
Towards the top of the spiral ramp is a conventional observation deck floor with areas for lounging with tall window from where one could get glimpses of Tokyo and this floor is officially situated at 451.2 meters constituting the highest point of the observation decks. Exploring the Tokyo Skytree is done on the 4th floor where tickers are sold for the first observation deck though not for the second deck. The visitors are taken to the top floors of the first observation deck through a fast and smooth elevator ride, where tickets for the second observation deck are sold.
They can then access the second deck prior to descending back to the lower floors of the first observatory where they could board the elevator below to the tower’s exit on the 5th floor. The appeal of Tokyo Skytree is in the fact that though it is a hi-tech structure, it also arouses a feeling of traditional beauty, featuring amazing techniques like the concave sori curves seen in traditional Japanese architecture and the convex mukuri curves that are found in temple architecture.
The Skytree was completed in February 2012 and the tower opened to the public on 22 May 2012. Being the centrepiece of a large commercial development it was funded by Tobu Railway together with a group of six terrestrial broadcasters lead by NHK. Trains stop at the nearby Tokyo Skytree Station and Oshiage Station where the complex is 7 km north-east of Tokyo Station.
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