Despite having been to Paris many times I’ve never been up the eye-ful tower. I was skeptical about the worth of such things until I went on a flight around the London Eye a few years ago. So, I decided that I should visit the Tokyo Tower fairly early in my trip to Tokyo. Since John and Peggy Rae Sapienza are over from the US for a few weeks I arranged to meet them near the tower. Since they were staying out near Narita, we met at Hamamatsu-Cho station which was convenient for both of us coming in. Unfortunately it was a little further to walk than it looked on the map so John and Peggy Rae were a bit wasted later on in the day due to the initial walk. Still, we managed to find each other easily enough at Hamamatsu-Cho station and make our way without incident up to the Tower, John and I stopping to take some pictures at the Zojou-ji shrine on the way past (see the gallery).

Apparently, on a really clear day, one can see Fuji-san from the Tower. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clear enough day so even the nearby mountains were little more than dimly-perceived misty shapes. I took quite a few photos of the view from the tower, out over Port of Tokyo and of the many skyscrapers visible (see the gallery).

A worthwhile thing to do if in Tokyo. Only 820 yen (adult) to go to the 150m observatory. There’s a higher level observatory at 250m, for a higher price, if you feel like being on top of the world.