350 metres or 450 metres — what the upgrade actually gets you
Tembo Deck or Tembo Galleria?
Skytree sells one ticket to the main deck and an upgrade to the level above it. The two are genuinely different in character, not just in height, and for most visitors the cheaper one is the better one. Here is what each is like.
Book your Skytree entry ↗What the Tembo Deck is
The main observation level, 350 metres up, and the one every ticket includes. It is three floors — numbered 340, 345 and 350 — of continuous gallery running right around the tower behind floor-to-ceiling glass. Floor 350 is the highest, with a cafe. Floor 345 has the shop and a restaurant. Floor 340 is the lowest, and has the section of glass floor.
What the Tembo Galleria is
A separate, higher level at 450 metres, sold as an add-on. Structurally it is nothing like the Deck: instead of a flat gallery it is a glass-walled tube that spirals around the outside of the tower and climbs continuously as you walk it, about 110 metres of gentle ramp, finishing at Sorakara Point at 451.2 metres. You walk up through it rather than standing in it.
The honest comparison of the views
They are very similar. One hundred metres is about fifteen per cent more height on a 350-metre baseline, and at that altitude the extra distance you can see is marginal. Anyone expecting the Galleria to reveal a substantially different Tokyo will be disappointed. What is different is the feeling: the ramp is narrow, glass on both sides and overhead, and you are moving upward the whole time, which is considerably more vertiginous than standing on a wide flat deck.
So why buy it
Three good reasons. The ramp itself is an experience rather than a viewpoint, and an unusual one. The structure is visible from inside it, so if the engineering interests you this is where you see it. And Sorakara Point is the highest place in Japan that a member of the public can stand, which for some people is reason enough.
Three reasons not to
It costs meaningfully more. It adds roughly half an hour to a visit that may already be squeezed. And if anyone in your party is uneasy about heights, the Galleria is markedly harder work than the Deck — the glass is closer, the floor is sloped, and there is nowhere to retreat to except back down the ramp.
Can you buy the Galleria on its own?
No. The Galleria is only reachable from floor 350, so a Galleria ticket is always in addition to a Deck ticket. If you buy Deck-only and change your mind once you are up there, you can normally buy the upgrade at a counter on floor 350 — though at busy times that is exactly when it is least likely to be available, and it is generally not cheaper than booking both together.
What to do with children
The Deck, and probably only the Deck. The glass floor on 340 is the single biggest hit with children in the entire building, the gallery is wide enough to let them move around, and there is a cafe. The Galleria's sloping tube is less interesting to a small child and harder to manage in a crowd.
The verdict
For a first visit with limited time or budget, buy the Tembo Deck alone and spend the difference on a longer, calmer visit at a better time of day. Add the Galleria if you have a real interest in the structure, if you specifically want the highest accessible point, or if you know you enjoy the sensation of height rather than merely tolerating it.