Tokyo Tower is often introduced as Japan’s version of the Eiffel Tower.
That is probably the least interesting thing about it.
Built for television
When Tokyo Tower opened in 1958, Japan was in the middle of a television boom. Tokyo needed a broadcasting tower capable of transmitting signals across a large part of the Kanto region, and engineers calculated that the tower needed to reach 333 meters.
There was also ambition involved.
Founder Hisakichi Maeda reportedly wanted the new tower to surpass the Eiffel Tower. It did. At 333 meters, Tokyo Tower became the tallest freestanding tower in the world at the time.
But its importance was never really about winning a height contest.
A statement about the future
Tokyo in 1958 was still rebuilding itself after the destruction of World War II. The economy was accelerating, television ownership was spreading and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics were only a few years away. Rising above the city in bright orange and white, Tokyo Tower became a very visible statement about where Japan believed it was going.
That is why we still think it deserves a place in a Tokyo itinerary.
Tokyo Tower or Skytree?
Today, Tokyo Skytree is considerably taller and offers a higher observation deck. If your only question is, “Where can I get the highest view?” Tokyo Tower probably loses that comparison.
But we would not visit Tokyo Tower simply for the view.
How we would visit
Walk through Zojoji Temple and Shiba Park first, then approach the tower from below. The contrast between an old Buddhist temple and one of postwar Japan’s great engineering symbols tells you far more about Tokyo than either place does on its own.
Go up if you have time. But also look back at the tower from the ground.
Tokyo Tower represents a particular moment when Japan was rebuilding, modernizing and looking forward with enormous confidence.
Skytree shows you how large Tokyo has become.
Tokyo Tower helps explain how modern Tokyo got here.
