Tokyo Tower, Japan: Needle of Light

Blazing like a slender beacon above the streets, Tokyo Tower is the Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower, but a little taller and a lot lighter. Tokyo Tower opened in 1958 as a symbol of Japan’s rise from the ruins of World War II.

Today, the Tower is a popular tourist attraction, famous for its magnificent views of the Tokyo skyline.

Two Tokyo landmarks in one: Tokyo Tower rises behind tranquil Zojoji Temple, once the temple of the Tokugawa shoguns. Modern and feudal Japan blend peacefully under blue skies.

It’s a long way up: 332 meters vs. 320 for the Eiffel Tower. Tokyo Tower is the tallest man-made structure in Japan, and the tallest free-standing steel tower in the world. It’s also Eiffel on a diet: 4,000 tons vs. 7,000 for Eiffel.

Gazing up at a web of steel. At the base of the tower is “Foot Town”, four floors of food and fun, including an aquarium with 50,000 fish, wax museum, Guiness World Records museum, hologram gallery, and trick art museum.

If you get hungry, there are plenty of places to eat: a soba noodle restaurant, Chinese buffet, ice cream shop, pizza parlor, and McDonald’s.

Tokyo Tower truly begins to shine when the sun goes down. Color changes with the seasons - orange lights in the winter and spring, silver white in the summer and fall. For special events, you can have green or pink or whatever color you like, if you’ve got the yen.

The Needle burns bright in the dark Tokyo sky.

Japan’s greatest city sparkles at night with the orange light of the tower and the silver-blue light of the skyscrapers.

On the left is Mori Tower, the 54-story mega-complex with offices, shops, restaurants, cinema, art museum, and the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Here the Tower erupts from the Earth like a crimson flame, surrounded by the endless lights of the Tokyo night.

Tokyo Tower makes a handy landmark if you get lost in this bewildering and fascinating city of 12.5 million people.

The moon beams down on Tokyo Tower, while the Tower points up at the moon. Light of nature and light of man in radiant embrace.

Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Tower: Two icons of Japan eye each other across the Kanto Plain. If you can see both on a clear and beautiful day, you’re a lucky traveler.

From the Tower observatory, you get a stunning 360-degree view of Tokyo. Here, we see Roppongi Hills on the left, green Izumi Garden Tower on the right, and the skyscrapers of Shinjuku district in the distance.

From here Tokyo seems like an endless sea of steel, streets, and travel adventures, and at the heart is Tokyo Tower, the Needle of Light.