Editing Tokyo Tower (section)

==Construction==
{{Multiple image
| align = left
| direction =
| total_width = 300
| image1 = Tokyo tower construction.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Construction underway on 25 February 1958
| image2 = Tokyo Tower 1961.jpg
| caption2 = Tokyo Tower around 1961
}}
A large broadcasting tower was needed in the [[Kantō region]] after [[NHK]], Japan's [[public broadcaster|public broadcasting]] station, began television broadcasting in 1953. Private broadcasting companies began operating in the months following the construction of NHK's own transmission tower. This communications boom led the Japanese government to believe that transmission towers would soon be built all over Tokyo, eventually overrunning the city. The proposed solution was the construction of one large tower capable of transmitting to the entire region.<ref name="JT">{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2002/03/17/general/the-tower-and-the-story/#.UoqwAMSUSb8 |title=The tower and the story |date=17 March 2002 |author=Gilhooly, Rob |work=[[The Japan Times]] |access-date=11 November 2013}}</ref> Furthermore, because of the country's [[Japanese post-war economic miracle|postwar boom]] in the 1950s, Japan was searching for a monument to symbolize its national recovery from [[World War II]], as one of the countries most ravaged by the war.<ref name="big in japan">{{cite web|title=Big in Japan:Tokyo Tower |url=http://metropolis.co.jp/biginjapan/biginjapaninc.htm |author=Bruan, Stuart |work=[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]] |access-date=21 September 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080610130818/http://metropolis.co.jp/biginjapan/biginjapaninc.htm |archive-date = 10 June 2008}}</ref><ref name="new JT">{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081230i1.html |title=Half century on, Tokyo Tower still dazzles as landmark |access-date=21 January 2009 |author=Ito, Masami |date=30 December 2008 |work=[[The Japan Times]]}}</ref>

Hisakichi Maeda, founder and president of Nippon Denpatō, the tower's owner and operator, originally planned for the tower to be taller than the [[Empire State Building]], which at 381&nbsp;meters was the highest structure in the world at the time. However, the plan fell through because of the lack of both funds and materials. The tower's height was eventually determined by the distance the TV stations needed to transmit throughout the Kantō region, a distance of about {{convert|150|km|mi|sp=us}}.<ref name="JT"/>

[[Tachū Naitō]], designer of tall buildings in Japan, was chosen to design the newly proposed tower.<ref name="JT"/> Looking to the [[Western world]] for inspiration, Naitō based his design on the [[Eiffel Tower]] in Paris, France.<ref name="sc">{{cite web|url=http://www.skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1782 |title=Tokyo Tower 東京タワー |access-date=29 March 2008 |publisher=SkyscraperPage}}</ref> With the help of engineering company Nikken Sekkei Ltd., Naitō claimed his design could withstand earthquakes with twice the intensity of the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake]] or [[typhoon]]s with wind speeds of up to {{convert|220|km/h|mph|sp=us}}.<ref name="JT"/>

The new construction project attracted hundreds of ''tobi'' ([[:ja:鳶職|鳶]]), traditional Japanese construction workers who specialized in the construction of high-rise structures. The [[Takenaka Corporation]] broke ground in June 1957 and each day at least 400&nbsp;laborers worked on the tower.<ref name="JT"/> It was constructed of [[steel]], a third of which was scrap metal taken from US tanks damaged in the [[Korean War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-osc.co.jp/hiroba/mane_chishiki/index.html |script-title=ja:鉄の豆知識 |access-date=30 March 2008 |publisher=Otani Steel Corporation |language=ja}}</ref><ref name="herald">{{cite web|title=Tokyo Tower goes from futuristic hope to symbol of the good old days |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/30/asia/tokyo.php |author=Fackler, Martin |work=[[International Herald Tribune]] |date=30 December 2008 |access-date=21 January 2009}}</ref> When the 90-meter-long antenna was bolted into place on 14 October 1958, Tokyo Tower was the [[List of towers|tallest freestanding tower]] in the world, taking the title from the Eiffel Tower by nine meters.<ref name="ET">{{cite web|url=https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-monument/key-figures |title=The Eiffel Tower at a glance |date=30 October 2017 |access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=December 2022}}

Though it is taller than the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo Tower weighs about 4,000&nbsp;tons, 3,300 less than the Eiffel Tower<ref name="official data"/> as it is significantly thinner and simpler in construction. It was opened to the public on 23 December 1958 at a final cost of [[Japanese yen|¥]]2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).<ref name="herald"/><ref name="colliers">{{cite web |url=http://www.colliers.com/Content/Attachments/Japan/tokyo_tower1.pdf |title=Tokyo Tower vs. Super Tower: Crossed Signals? |publisher=Colliers International |access-date=21 January 2009 |date=October 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612093857/http://www.colliers.com/Content/Attachments/Japan/tokyo_tower1.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2009  }}</ref> Tokyo Tower was [[Mortgage loan|mortgaged]] for ¥10&nbsp;billion in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/641/smallprint.asp |title=The Small Print |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=7 July 2006 |author=Alex Vega |work=[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080224185404/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/641/smallprint.asp |archive-date = 24 February 2008}}</ref> It was the tallest artificial structure in Japan until April 2010, when it was surpassed by the [[Tokyo Skytree]].<ref name="sc" />

Planned as an antenna for telecommunications and brightly colored in accordance with the time's Aviation Law, the tower's two panoramic observatories are mostly frequented by tourists today. The tower constitutes a clear reference point in the center's skyline, forming a strong landmark, both night and day.<ref
name="Sacchi">Sacchi, Livio (2004). Tokyo City and Architecture. Skira Editore S.p.A. p. 58. {{ISBN|88-8491-990-8}}.</ref> Every five years, the tower is repainted in a process that takes about a year to complete. Tokyo Tower is next planned to be repainted in 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.takenaka.co.jp/corp/archive/tokyotower/power/index.html|title=5年に1回のお化粧直し。|language=ja|access-date=2 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926083727/http://www.takenaka.co.jp/corp/archive/tokyotower/power/index.html|archive-date=26 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/tokyo-tower/|title=Tokyo Tower|access-date=2 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006214454/http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/tokyo-tower/|archive-date=6 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>