Sumimasen…It’s been almost a whole month since we told you what has been happening in Tokyo. We got so excited about the cherry blossom season and taking part in Hanami parties, (cherry blossom picnics), that we completely lost track of time!
Rather than post about the Sakura, (it’s all gone now), we thought we would have a quick look at something that’s just as exciting…at long last the Tokyo Sky Tree is just a few weeks away from the public opening with the sky elevators opening up on May 22nd!
Up until now I had only seen the tower from a distance, there are lots of places around the city that you’ll see it. But as you get closer you start realising just how tall this thing is. Topping out at 634 metres it becomes the second highest building in the world and the tallest tower in the world. Tokyo has plenty of tall skyscrapers but they are absolutely dwarfed by the Sky Tree.
I decided to walk there from Asakusa, it only takes around 25 mins and is a good way to approach the Sky Tree if you have time. First off you get great views across the Sumida river with the Asahi building in the foreground. Then you get the view from Sumida Koen, which people say is the best view of the Sky Tree, especially when the Sakura is out…my timing is so bad, 2 weeks late!
There’s still a fair amount of development going on around the base of the tower, I guess lots of last minute things being finished off for the opening. The tower disappears at the base into the huge shopping/office/school buildings which are being called TOKYO SKYTREE TOWN, make sense doesn’t it!
So it is interesting just looking up at the Tower from the ground, but for those of you who want to go up, you have 2 options. The first stop is the “Tembo Deck” at 350m, (already higher than the Toyko Tower observatory!). That costs 2,500 yen/person. The highest you can go is the “Tembo Galleria” at 450m. It costs an extra 1000 yen, so 3,500 in total. Once there you can experience the highest Sky Walk in the world, with a clear glass corridor than runs right around the tower. I can’t wait to have a go!
For anyone interested we could easily include a visit to the Sky Tree on one of our private guided tours.
For more info take a look at the SKYTREE website
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