Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in Japan, rising 634 metres over the Sumida River in the Sumida district of Tokyo, a short distance from the old temple quarter of Asakusa. Its height is a pun: the figures six-three-four read in Japanese as 'Mu-Sa-Shi', the old name for the province around Tokyo. Completed in early 2011 and opened to the public on 22 May 2012, the tripod-based lattice tower was built as a broadcasting and observation tower, and it has become one of the defining landmarks of the modern Tokyo skyline.
Visitors ride to two observation levels. The Tembo Deck, at 350 metres, is the main deck — a triple-level gallery wrapping right around the tower with floor-to-ceiling glass, a café, and a section of glass floor that lets you look straight down at the streets far below. Higher still, the Tembo Galleria at 450 metres is a sloping glass-walled sky-walk that spirals up to the tower's highest viewing point, reached on a combined ticket. From either level the whole of Tokyo spreads to the horizon, and on a clear morning Mount Fuji stands on the western skyline.
The catch for visitors is the ticketing itself: separate Tembo Deck and Tembo Galleria options, a price that changes with the day of the week and the season, timed entry slots, and a tower that genuinely sells out at peak times. We cut through it — you pick the deck you want, we secure your time slot, and you arrive with a single QR ticket already paid for in your own currency, with English-language support if anything changes.