Local pride sky high as tower transforms Tokyo

The Tokyo Skytree, twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and its surrounding retail and office complex, opened this week with thousands of people queuing in the rain for a first look at the 143 billion ($2.37 billion) development.

Owner Tobu Railway had predicted 200,000 first-day visitors, lured by the 300-plus shops and restaurants, along with the lighting up of the tower at night. The development in eastern Tokyo opened yesterday before its 10am schedule so crowds could escape the bad weather.

"There are so many stores in one place, and it's easy to shop," said Miho Yabe, a 24-year-old-year-old fitness club employee, who travelled two hours to Tokyo Skytree from Chiba prefecture. "I'll come back again when it's not as crowded."

Tobu Railway expects the 634m-high tower and its surrounding building to draw 32 million visitors in its first year, surpassing the numbers at Tokyo Disney Resort. The rail company is counting on the development, which also includes an aquarium and planetarium, to lure shoppers as Japan's shrinking population threatens to dampen rail travel.

Tokyo Skytree, which took four years to build, surpasses the 600m-high Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China, as the world's tallest, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Dubai's Burj Khalifa is the tallest building at 828m. The council defines a tower as a structure of which less than half its height is occupied by useable floor space.

The tower, which cost 65 billion on its own, has two observation decks, one at 350m and another at 450m. A trip to the lower deck will cost 2000. Visits up the tower are fully booked through July 11, said Kenji Aoyagi, a Tobu spokesman.

Six TV stations, including state-owned NHK, will use the Skytree for transmissions next year. The tower's steel frame changes from a triangle at the base to a circle at the top, and its curves and arches reflect a traditional Samurai sword, according to its owner.

Skytree is also about double the height of Japan's previous record-holder, the 333m Tokyo Tower, which opened in 1958.

The new tower looms over Tokyo's Asakusa district, previously one of the city's main entertainment areas and still home to geishas and traditional Japanese restaurants. The area also houses Senso-ji temple, a popular tourist site, famed for Kaminarimon, Thunder Gate.

"As a local I'm very pleased," Sadaharu Oh, Japan's baseball home-run record-holder, said at the opening ceremony. He grew up in Sumida City, one of Tokyo's 23 wards, and home to the tower.

- Bloomberg