JAPAN: Oriental Eiffel Tower

Rearing up over the low-lying Tokyo skyline last week was a new steel contraption that to Westerners had a familiar shape. Called the Tokyo TV Tower, it looks like Paris' famed Eiffel Tower, and when a 250-ft. antenna is added to it this fall, it will rise 1,082 ft. above Japan's capital and Tokyo Bay, beating the Eiffel Tower by 65 ft. Designed by Aerodynamics Expert Isamu Kamei to withstand 210-m.p.h. winds at its top and an earthquake twice as violent as the one that leveled Tokyo in 1923. the $7,000,000 tower will boast a glass-enclosed observation platform and...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!