Tokyo Skytree photo from Shutterstock
Located on the east side of Tokyo in the Asakusa traditional district, the Tokyo Skytree rises in gleaming silver, dwarfing the city blocks around it. The communication tower is the lone skyscraper in the neighborhood, so it soars above the surrounding structures – it even trumps Toronto’s CN Tower by 265 feet.
The sky-scraping 2,080 foot Tokyo Skytree was recently completed in Japan on the site of a former freight shunting yard on the Sumida River. The soaring needle is the world’s largest communication tower, and the second highest building to boot. The tower was completed just a few months after its deadline, due to a shortage of resources caused by last year’s Fukushima Nuclear disaster. Tokyo tourism hopes that the Skytree towerattracts tourists like the CN Tower does, as tourism has dwindled since the Fukushima disaster. It’s a likely prospect, since the height of the tower is only eclipsed by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
The tower itself cost $806 million, not including the communications structures inside, and it took 580,000 workers to construct. The tower is linked in with a Tobu Railway hub, enabling visitors to reach the tower from any point of the city. Visitors can enjoy sprawling views of Tokyo at observation decks at 1,148 feet and 1, 476 feet. Inside, the tower will also offer an array of restaurants, office space and other shops.
+ Tokyo Skytree
Via Phys Org
Lead Tokyo Skytree photo from Shutterstock
Other photos by Yuka Yoneda
