THE Tokyo Skytree, the world’s tallest free-standing tower and the Japanese capital’s newest landmark, opens to the public.
Costing 65 billion yen (£517m) to complete, Tokyo’s new landmark Skytree opened to the general public on Tuesday after four years in construction.
The tower, built by Japan’s Tobu Railway Company, stands 634 metres (2,080ft) tall, making it the world’s second tallest building after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai which stands at 829 metres (2720 ft).
Tokyo Skytree is now the world’s tallest free-standing broadcast tower ahead of the Canton Tower in China which scales 600 metres (1,968 ft).
8,000 people who reserved first-day admissions passes were able to climb to the observation deck to gaze at the view afforded from a building almost twice as tall the Eiffel Tower.
“This will definitely become one of the Japan’s symbolic places,” 25-year-old Masae Koudo said.                                                  –TG