The Japanese Love Towers

It seems that a Japanese city can’t be complete until it has a big tower for tourists to visit and take pictures of, and virtually every major Japanese city has one to serve as a destination for visitors and couples out for a romantic late-night drive. Some of the more unique Japanese towers include Kyoto Tower, essentially a clone of Seattle Space needle; Yokohama Marine Tower, the largest lighthouse in the world when it was built in 1961; (ugly) Osaka Tower, built in 1887 but melted down to make tanks during World War II; and of course Tokyo Tower, a 333 meter replica of the Eifel Tower, built because the Japanese secretly wish they were part of Europe rather than Asia. This year construction was finally completed on the grandest tower yet, Tokyo Sky Tree, a sprawling ziggurat that reaches 600 meters into the sky which provides television and radio coverage for the Japanese capital as well as spectacular views for visitors to Tokyo’s Asakusa area. Unsurprisingly, there are “tower otakus” in Japan who study every facet of the history of these structures and make frequent visits, and I’m sure they’ll be lining to up visit Japan’s newest tower when it officially opens in May.

Giantess Miku has finally finished her Tokyo Sky Tree Plamo.