Tsutenkaku Tower

Tsutenkaku Tower

Overview:

Tsutenkaku (通天 閣, meaning "the tower that reached the sky" and is owned by Tsutenkaku Kanko Co., Ltd.), is a tower and well-known landmark of Osaka that has appeared in many films.

It is located in the Shinsekai district of Naniwa-ku, Osaka.

Its total height is 103 metres; the main observation deck is at a height of 91 metres.

Historic overview:

The original tower, patterned after the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, was built in 1912, and was connected to the adjacent amusement park, Luna Park, by an aerial cable car.

At the time of its construction, its height of 64 metres (210 ft) made it the second tallest structure in Asia. It quickly became one of the most popular locations in the city, drawing visitors from all over the area.

The original structure suffered a fire in 1943 which severely damaged it, and rather than repair the structure, it was disassembled and the steel used for the war effort.

After the war, citizens lobbied to rebuild the beloved tower. A private company, the Tsūtenkaku Kanko Co. Ltd. was established and Tachū Naitō, Japan's "Father of Towers" was selected to design it. The new, eight-sided structure was opened in 1956.

The number of its visitors reached more than 700,000 people annually, and it achieved great success in 2007 when it was registered as an important cultural site in Japan and one of the most widely popular sites in the entire city.

Resources:

tsutenkaku website

arttravelers website

japansamuraininja website

Nippon website

agazaclick website

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