Tokyo Skytree 東京スカイツリー Tyōkyō sukaitsurī

The taller, younger, and more technologically advanced sibling to Tokyo Tower, built because Japan wasn’t about to let Canada’s CN Tower have the last word in the “my tower is bigger than yours” global competition.

Statistical hodgepodge

Height: 634 meters, making it the tallest structure in Japan and the second tallest structure in the world after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
Inaugurated: May 2012, after Tokyo Tower’s analog TV signals couldn’t reach all the buildings in the increasingly vertical Tokyo
Cost: 65 billion JPY (approximately 5.2 billion SEK at the time)

Why 634 meters?

Think the Japanese just wanted to trump the Chinese by making Tokyo Skytree 2 meters taller than Shanghai Tower? Think again. The height was chosen because the numbers can be read as “Mu-sa-shi” (6=mu, 3=sa, 4=shi), referring to the historic Musashi Province where Tokyo now stands. Too busy with their puns to be petty. Never change, Japan.

Engineering marvels: Tokyo Skytree’s earthquake resistance is inspired by traditional five-story pagodas, which have survived centuries of seismic activity. The tower features a central concrete column (like a giant chopstick) surrounded by a steel frame that can move independently during earthquakes. Engineers call this a “vibration control system”; we call it architectural aikido.

For the chromatically inclined:

The tower’s color is officially called “Skytree White,” a custom color that shifts between bluish-white and purplish-white depending on the lighting and time of day.
At night, it’s illuminated in alternating patterns: 粋 Iki (blue representing the spirited Edo style), 雅 Miyabi (purple representing traditional Japanese elegance), and 昇 Nobori (orange representing prosperity).
These lighting patterns rotate daily – a detail many visitors will completely miss while taking selfies.

Tips for visitors

Two observation decks await: 展望デッキ Tenbō Dekki (the Tembo Deck) at 350m and the higher 展望ギャラリー Tenbō Gyararī (Tembo Galleria) at 450m, both offering spectacular views and spectacular prices.

The tower is surrounded by ソラマチ Soramachi (Solamachi), a massive shopping complex designed to extract whatever money you have left after paying for tickets.

Pro tip: On clear days, you can see Mount Fuji from the observation decks – which happens approximately 3,5 days per year.

How to get there

The tower is accessible via two stations (of which one is very conventiently named):

東京スカイツリー駅 Tōkyō Sukaitsurī-eki (Tokyo Skytree Station) on the Tobu Skytree Line
押上駅 Oshiage-eki (Oshiage Station), served by the Hanzomon Subway Line, Asakusa Subway Line, and Keisei Oshiage Line

Navigation hack: Just follow any excited tourist with a camera looking upward – they’re probably heading the same way.