The Tokyo metropolitan area is home to dozens of skyscrapers. As in other crowded cities where buildable land is at a premium, the Japanese have chosen to build up instead of building out. With over 127 million people, Japan has a land area that is slightly smaller than the state of California, so space has been a major concern for decades. Building up in a place like Tokyo presents architects and engineers with special problems related to the geological instability of the chain of islands that make up the Japanese mainland. Earthquakes are a constant threat, which have led the Japanese to introduce some of the most innovative high rise building codes in the world.
Along with the rest of Japan, Tokyo rests on what geologists call the Pacific Ring of Fire. This term refers to Japans location along the boundary of two tectonic plates. The Eurasian Plate and the Pacific Plate are defined as convergent plates that push against each other with one plate rising over the top of the other. The result of the tremendous force applied to the borders of these plates places cities like Tokyo at great risk for seismic activity.
Japan suffered several major earthquakes during the Twentieth Century most recently in the city of Kobe in 1995. The intense quake did a tremendous amount of damage and killed over 6000 people. In addition to the high death toll, over 400 thousand people were injured and 100’s of thousands were left homeless when almost 300 thousand homes were damaged or completely destroyed.
The Tokyo Skyline
Given the city’s history of war and earthquakes, many early examples of high rise building construction were either destroyed or demolished. The oldest surviving high rise building in Tokyo is the 237 foot Hotel New Otani which opened in 1964. Many modern skyscrapers in Tokyo were designed with structure systems that help the building dampen the effects of earthquakes. Some buildings were constructed with giant shock absorbers at the base to help break up frequency of seismic waves, reducing the amount of shaking and swaying transferred to the rest of the building.
The Tokyo Tower
The tallest free standing structure in Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower stands nearly 1100 feet above the Minato-Ku district of the city. Distinctively modeled on the world famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, the tower serves as a platform for broadcasting telecommunication signals. Completed in 1859, the Tokyo Tower features observation decks that provide spectacular panoramic views of this beautiful cosmopolitan city. The tower serves as a gathering place for both visitors and residents of Tokyo.
The Midtown Tower
The tallest and one of the newest skyscrapers along the Tokyo skyline is the Midtown Tower. Located in the Minato district of the city, the tower was opened in 2007 and stands over 800 feet tall. The tower’s 54 floors provide over 2.6 million square feet of office, commercial and hotel space. The tower’s gleaming glass exterior reflects the modern architectural design that makes the Midtown Tower the most prominent feature of the Tokyo skyline.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
The Tokyo City hall opened in 1991 and is the second tallest building in the city. Rising nearly 800 feet above Tokyo, Tokyo City Hall is a classic example of post modern architecture. The distinctive design features twin towers that rise from the buildings base at the thirty-third floor. The building’s glass and steel exterior is striking, with observation decks at the top of each tower. The cost to build the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is said to have been $1 billion U.S. dollars, making it one the most expensive high rise buildings in all of Japan.
Tokyo History
The old name of Tokyo, Edo, goes back to the city’s founding as a small village which was built at the end of what is now Tokyo Bay early in the Fifteenth Century. Towards the end of the Sixteenth Century, the village became the site of a castle occupied by renowned military general and statesman Ieyasu who decided to make the village the capital of the Empire. From that time forward, its growth in both size and regional influence was rapid and Edo soon become the most important city on Japan. While many western cities saw population growth during the Nineteenth Century, the growth in the population of Tokyo was tremendous, with over 1.8 million residents living in and around the city by 1900.
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