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Just in front of Kyoto Station, the entrance to the city of Kyoto, stands Kyoto Tower, shining brilliantly in the hot summer’s sun. The doughnut-shaped observation deck, 100 meters above the ground, provides a splendid view of the streets of the city surrounded by the lush greenery of the enclosing mountains and the clear, blue summer sky.
Famous as a tourist attraction, Kyoto draws tourists from both overseas and all over Japan. In 2008 the number of visitors to Kyoto exceeded 50 million people. Probably the first sight that greets their eyes when they arrive in the city is Kyoto Tower. With its long, thin shape, the tower reminds most people of a candle, and in fact it has, at times, been called the candle of Higashi Honganji Temple.
Now, Kyoto Tower has earned its status as the symbol of Kyoto, but when it was first constructed, in 1964, there was a lot of opposition to its construction - the idea of building a structure higher than the five-storied pagoda at Toji Temple was unthinkable. However, the movement to promote the city won the day and now the image of a lighthouse in Kyoto, which is of course a city that has no ocean nearby, has merged into and become an accepted part of the city landscape, rising up in front of the historic temple without seeming out of place in the slightest. The body of the tower was repainted in 2007, and the floor arrangement has been improved. Now, the 800-ton tower stands atop a 9-story building, which houses a 3-star hotel and several stores. The first three floors of the building consist of stores specializing in souvenirs and a book store, the hotel uses the 5th through the 9th floors, and there are actually five floors that comprise the observation deck section of the tower. |
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A view of Kyoto Tower seen
from Kyoto Station |
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| Observation deck |
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