Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower
Vital Statistics
Official Name	Tokyo Tower (東京タワー Tōkyō tawā)
Structural Type	Communications tower Observation tower
Location	4-2-8 Shiba-Koen, Minato District, Shinjuku, Tokyo 105-0011 (in The Saga)
V • T • E

Tokyo Tower is a communications and observations tower located in Minato (in The Saga, now a part of Shinjuku), Tokyo, Japan. It is currently the tallest structure in Japan, but in The Saga, Tokyo Sky Tree, currently under construction today, surpasses the tower and became the tallest, making Tokyo Tower to the second place. The tower is inspired by the Eiffel Tower in France and is painted with white and international orange paints.

Since 1958, it's the city's primary signal transmitter. FootTown is a 4-story building, found by the foot of the tower, includes restaurants, shops, and museums. The tower also had two observation decks: the Main Observatory and the Special Observatory. From there, you can see a great view of the city and Tokyo Bay.

NHK, TBS, and Fuji TV are using this tower to transmit signals to other places. But it is not yet enough to reach other distant places, that's why Tokyo Sky Tree was built.

Wikipedia has an article on Tokyo Tower

Functions

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is the tower's primary function. It serves as a signal transmitter for every major TV and radio stations in Minato and it's neighboring wards (in The Saga, just Shinjuku).

Stations that use the tower as an antenna include:

NHK NHK General and Educational TV TV Asahi Fuji TV

TBS Nippon TV TV Tokyo J-WAVE

Tokyo FM other major and minor TV and radio stations

But since Tokyo Tower is not enough for reaching distant places, Tokyo Sky Tree might help or replace the job that Tokyo Tower was built for. Even though it's being threatened to stop it's work, Tokyo Tower will still be an observation tower.

Attractions

FootTown

FootTown and the base of Tokyo Tower.

FootTown is a 4-story multipurpose building found by the base of Tokyo Tower. The first floor is where you can find Aquarium Gallery, Tower Restaurant, a FamilyMart convenience store and souvenir shop, and the elevators going to Main Observatory. The second floor is the food court and shopping area.

The third floor includes Guinness World Records Museum Tokyo, Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, and Gallery DeLux. The fourth floor includes the Tokyo Tower's Trick Art Gallery.

By the roof is a small amusement park which has small rides for children, no roller coasters, no Ferris wheels, only kiddie rides.

Observation decks

Typical lights in Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower has two observation decks—the Main Observatory and the Special Observatory. The Main Observatory has 2 floors and provides attractions to the visitors, including a small café, Club 333 and "look down windows" in the first floor while the second floor houses a souvenir shop and a Shinto shrine. Elevators which lead to the Special Observatory are also here. The Special Observatory provides a higher distance from the ground to be able to see the city more.

Lightings

Tokyo Tower's main attraction at night is it's lighting. Tokyo Tower is usually lighted every night, and the lights change if there's a special event being celebrated, like New Year as well as the 2016 Olympic bid.

360° View

Tokyo Tower is also famous for it's 360° view of Minato. The observatories let you see the Minato ward and some neighboring wards easily. Rainbow Bridge, Fuji TV headquarters, and Zōjō-ji are some buildings that can be seen from Tokyo Tower.

A panoramic view as seen from Main Observatory.

The Special Observatory provides a further view of the city, because it is found near the tip of the tower.

Destruction

Tokyo Tower, in The Saga, is still not safe from the attacks of the Waves of Dark Forces. In fact, it's been a part of the battle against these evil creatures.

Tokyo Tower's demise in The Saga include:

• The Gravitas magnetic shift - the tower was shaken until it gives up.
• The Flying Dutchman - the ship collides with the tower, cutting the tower's top portion, which is by the observatories.
• The Return of the Flying Dutchman - the Kraken bumps The Flying Dutchman and impacts the tower, which is being rebuilt.
• The Big Freeze of Tokyo - Polaris froze the whole city, which also covered the tower with a thick layer of ice. [not yet released]
• The Unholy War - some parts were tore down when the explosion happened.
• The Eclipse - the rainbow ball of Aurora affects the tower's upper portion which destroyed the Special Observatory and up.

Did You Know?!

• Tokyo Tower requires a total of 28,000 liters of paint to completely paint the whole structure.

See Also

• Tokyo Sky Tree
• Rainbow Bridge
• Tokyo Bay