Tokyo Tower and surrounding area, Tokyo

With a height of 333 meters, Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower since its opening in 1958. By comparison, its model, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, is 320 meters tall.

The tower weighs about 4,000 tons, much less than the Eiffel Tower, which weighs 7,000 tons, a result of advances in steel manufacturing and construction technology.

Tokyo Tower serves as a television and radio broadcast antenna and an attraction for tourists, who can ascend to the main observatory at 150 meters and the special observatory at 250 meters to get a bird's eye view of Tokyo.

SOURCE: Y. Shimizu, courtesy of Japan National Tourism Organization, used with permission.

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NOTE: The information regarding Japan on this page is re-published from Japan National Tourism Organization. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Japan information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Japan should be addressed to Japan National Tourism Office.