Feature ICONS OF

The freestanding orange-and-white lat- tice is for many people the defin- Tokyo ing image of Tokyo. Even after more than sixty years since its completion, remains a beloved sym- Tower bol of the capital for those who live and Beloved Symbol of work beneath its ever-changing skyline. the Capital SASAKI TAKASHI

n December of 2020, the Japan City Corp. (now Tokyo Tower Co., Tower, known as Tokyo Ltd.). He believed that it was essen- Tower and located in Minato tial to build the world’s tallest tower, City, will celebrate its 62nd anni- surpassing even the in versaryI since opening. When it was Paris, not only to allow the signal to completed in 1958, at 333 meters it be broadcast across the entire expan- was the tallest free-standing steel sive Kanto Plains, but also to bring in tower in the world. In 1953, once many tourists. television broadcasting began in Since immediately after the com- Japan, each broadcasting company pletion of Tokyo Tower, around built their own broadcasting tow- 10,000 people have visited it every ers, but with further new entrants day and in some years the annual projected, it became necessary to number of visitors reaches nearly have a combined tower from which four million. Japan was right in the all television signals could be trans- middle of a period of high economic mitted. The person who pioneered growth at the time of its construction, the project to build an enormous and Tokyo Tower became a symbol broadcasting tower that would also of Japanese growth along with the include an observatory to earn rev- 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the Shink- enue from tourism was Maeda Hisa- ansen bullet train. At the time, there kichi (1893–1986), who was the presi- were no high-rise buildings like there dent of a newspaper company in are now, so it was possible to see the Osaka at the time and later went on sight of Tokyo Tower from all across to establish the Nippon Television the city, as if it were piercing the sky.

Tokyo Tower

8 | highlighting japan Before long, Tokyo Tower came to came to an end with the comple- be a symbol of Tokyo and a part tion of , which of Tokyoites’ mental image of the transmits terrestrial digital signals. city. The tower is illuminated at The tower is illuminated with the- night and its beauty has captured matic colors using the Diamond the hearts of many. It appears in Veil illumination device, which many movies and TV shows, and was introduced in 2008 to com- Tokyo Tower itself even shows memorate the 50th anniversary up in some of their titles. Tokyo since opening, and it continues to Tower was registered as a national send out messages, for example, registered tangible cultural prop- to raise awareness for breast can- erty in 2013, and in Minato City, cer and to offer thanks to health the local government protects sce- care workers responding to the nic locations where the tower can novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- be viewed in its entirety. demic. And in 2018, for the tower's

Mori Yuki, Deputy Manager in 60th anniversary, the 250-meter- Tokyo Tower, illuminated the Public Relations Division and high Special Observatory was ren- Historical Archives Division of the ovated and Top Deck Tours were Mori says, “Apart from these Sales Department at Tokyo Tower started, allowing a small number kinds of new facilities and plans, Co., Ltd., states, “Tokyo Tower of guests to casually enjoy the we must carry out honest mainte- used to be a place that tourists to extraordinary space. The Main nance that will protect the tower Tokyo wanted to ascend at least Deck, the abandoned broadcasting from rust and deterioration so that once, but we are aiming to make facilities located 150 meters above people will continue to love the it a place that people want to visit ground (formerly the Main Obser- Tower after 100 or 200 years.” multiple times.” vatory), was also renovated, and it The painting of the tower’s Efforts are progressing towards has been reborn as a space where a steel frame, carried out every five a new era for Tokyo Tower, as its variety of events including corpo- years since its completion, is one role as a TV broadcasting tower rate presentations are held. such important maintenance task. Tokyo Tower continues to trans- mit radio signals even today, so painters erect scaffolding using logs so as not to interfere with the broadcasts and they paint the entire steel structure orange and white separately by hand, using brushes. The hearts of Tokyo natives continue to go out to Tokyo Tower, a timelessly beautiful, unchang- ing form amidst the capital city’s great development and transfor- mations.

View from the Main Deck All photos: ©TOKYO TOWER

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