Tokyo Tower - the second largest building in Japan

This steel truss tower is 333 meters high, and has platforms at heights of 150 and 250 meters.

The structure is located in the Shiba-koen district in Minato City, Tokyo.

Famous Japanese architect Tachū Naitō admitted that he looked to the Western world for inspiration, so he decided to simply look at the most famous tower in the world, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was the most famous tower in the world that became the inspiration for Tokyo's tower.

The tower serves a dual purpose, being both a communications tower with a massive antenna at the top and an observation tower that provides incredible views from its observation decks.

Tokyo Tower is the second tallest building in Japan, second only to Tokyo Skytree in the same city, which at 634 meters is the tallest tower in the world.

Until 1973, Tokyo Tower held the record for the world's tallest truss tower. The tower was originally intended to be the world's tallest building and surpass the then record holder Empire State Building, but due to budget constraints and lack of suitable materials, this plan was changed and the height was determined by the distance needed for television stations to provide a good signal throughout the Kantō region.

One-third of the steel that was used for construction was obtained from melting down American tanks that were left over from the Korean War in the early 1950s.

Situated in an area of frequent seismic movements, the tower was designed to withstand earthquakes twice the magnitude of the great 1923 earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.9, and to survive typhoons with wind speeds of up to 220 km/h.

The width of the building's base is 80 meters.

The weight of Tokyo Tower is "only" 4000 tons, which is nearly 3300 tons less than its prototype from Paris.

This one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city is visited by about 3 million tourists every year. In addition to the observation deck, there is a museum, restaurants, stores and the Tokyo One Piece Tower theme park at the base of the tower.

The color of the tower is white and international orange, meeting aviation safety regulations. However, the tower is often illuminated with other colors during various holidays. Painting of the tower is done once every 5 years and takes about 1 year, 28000 liters of paint are used for this.

The tower is manned by a team of professionals.

The tower is served by 4 elevators that take passengers to the main observatory. The ticket price includes another elevator to the higher observatory.

On a clear day, you can even see Mount Fuji in the distance.

The tower is a member of the "World Federation of Great Towers".