I did some previous blabla about the mingling of modernity and tradition in Japan, so here you go: Tokyo Skytree 東京スカイツリーand Sensoji 浅草寺 in Tokyo’s Asakusa 浅草area, Taito ward 台東区. The whole area maintains a nice atmosphere of old edo Japan with it’s temple, pagoda and shopping streets. However, as almost every building in Tokyo. the main hall 本堂 is a postwar structure dating back to 1956, the pagoda 五重塔 was finished not before 1973. Anyway, it’s a pleasent area that recently got more attention because of the opening of the nearby Skytree with it’s shopping center. You can combine some tradition and ultra-modernity in one trip, if you want to do so.
Tokyo 東京 in perspective. With 634 meter, Tokyo skytree 東京スカイツリー is the world’s tallest tower and the world’s second biggest building after all. (after Burj Khalifa in the Arab Emirates) From up there, even the massive skyscrapers of Shinjuku appear tiny. There are two observatories, one at 350m and one at 450m but at this height, the noticable difference is small. Entry fee for the lower observatory is around 2500 Yen and there is an extra charge of additional 1000 Yen for the upper one.
While it sure is an unique experience, I thought it to be way to expensive and I had to wait like three hours to get in. Just one hour in a queue because you get a ticket for the queue to the ticket with a specific time on it, a system which let’s you at least look around (the shopping center) for most of the time. But for a scenic view of Tokyo from above, the Metropolitan Building at Shinjuku offers almost the same experience. For free. It’s still worth the money, if you have enough of it.
Toro Nagashi(lantern festival) is a summer tradition in Japan They make wishes and float paper lanterns down the river in order to pray for their ancestors’ happiness
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Location Tokyo SkyTree seen from Sumida Park
♂️How to get to Few minutes walk from Asakusa Station
