Tokyo Skytree – Japan
A good number of manmade wonders correspond to buildings which reach the summit of sky and talk to the clouds. The one which stands at the number two position in the world has its location in Sumida and is the pride of Japan. This is the Tokyo Skytree which, with a height of 634 metres, has shifted the Canyon Tower of China to the third place.
It is the second tallest building of the world and comes after the Burj Khalifa. It is used as a broadcasting centre, an observatory tower, and a venue to a couple of popular restaurants which serve fusion cuisine of Japan and France. The Tokyo Skytree is part of a commercial venture taken up by the Tobu Railway and six broadcasters from across the territories that are in turn headed by NHK. The tower is built at a place which is equidistant from both the Tokyo Skytree and Oshiage stations. The Tokyo Skytree also has an aquarium inside the building.
The main objective behind the tower of Tokyo Skytree is to help in the smooth relaying of TV and radio signals which can help the city life. Previously this job was done by the Tokyo Towers but, with a height of 333metres and getting obstructed by a number of other neighbouring high rises, it is unable to broadcast the terrestrial signals properly. The Tokyo Skytree has two observation decks at the top and got opened for public on May 2012. These two decks, at the heights of 350 and 450 metres, give a panoramic view of the entire Tokyo city. In between the two observatory decks is a gallery called the Tembo Gallery which is also known to be the “highest skywalk” in the world.
While designing the Tokyo Skytree, the objectives which were kept in mind were related to taking an approach which was both modernistic as well as keeping in mind the old notions. As Tokyo is prone to natural catastrophes such as earth quakes, safety was certainly one of the primary requirements to be fulfilled by the building. Lastly, it was also thought that the Tokyo Skytree should come up as a landmark of the city which could attract people from distant locations to pay a visit and thus energize the city.
The shape of the Tokyo Skytree has been kept cylindrical so that the entire city and river can be visible. It is told that the dampers of the tower have the absorbing capacity of 50 percent of the seismic energies. The outer colour of the Tokyo Skytree is “Skyline White” which comes from the traditional blue white colour of Japan, also called aijiro. The entire tower is also adorned with illumination effects with the help of LEDs and the colours used are sky blue and purple.
Tokyo Skytree can be reached through buses from various locations of Tokyo like Tokyo Station, Ueno Station, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Haneda Airport.