Japan Lights: Tokyo Tower 2- Main and Special Deck

Tokyo Tower 2- Main and Special Deck

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After going through Foot Town and buying tickets (more about it in here) it's time to finally go up!

The elevator is just after the ticket booth. Elevators are spacious and have not only music but also colourful lights (I think they are LEDs, mostly blue, green and purple- cool colours)! During the short trip upstairs there’s a member of the Tower’s staff, saying some interesting things about the landmark. there’s also a communicate about “Bump on the road”- there’s a place when passengers will hear a cracking noise and a sharp jolt, which apparently is absolutely normal and there’s nothing to worry about. Well, good thing they did say that before we could start panicking ;)

The elevator stops at the main deck first.

Main Deck

Main deck is at 150m and has two floors. The elevator stops at 2nd of them. There's a great view, and a really convinient thing- on both decks there are windows with actual glass in them (unlike in Eiffel Tower) so there's no wind and no fear of falling. First thing you’ll probably see is a Goods Shop, where you can buy souvenirs and limited items that can only be purchased in this particular place. There are postcards, figurines, key chains, straps and many other things shaped as tower or having an imprint of tower. There are even stickers with various pictures of the tower.

Another thing you’ll not have trouble finding is Café La Tour where you can drink coffee or eat ice-creams. I can certainly recommend pudding with corn flakes and ice-cream. Apparently ice-cream and flakes are popular combination in Japan, and let me assure you, it’s quite a good one.

One really good thing in this cafe is they way the tables are located- most of them are counters with stools and a view at Tokyo’s panorama. It’s a really nice feeling to eat something sweet and tasty while watching the biggest city of the world laying at your feet :)

Café La Tour's menu- the flacours of ice-cream varies- when I was there it was strawberry instead of mango. Unfortunatelly the prices were also higher- 630 yen for pudding

You probably won't miss Club 333, which is a stage where some weekly special events are held. For Wednesday and Thursday nights there are live shows, while Fridey nights are reserved for DJs.

One thing I haven't noticed is a Great Shinto Shrine of the Tower. Really, I haven’t seen it, too busy enjoying the view. Or maybe I have seen it but couldn’t recognise it? Anyway, it’s in there. Somewhere.

Lookdown Window

The thing I spend quite a while looking for, is a Lookdown Window. It’s on the 1st floor (yes, this is the catch, you have to go down to find it). The Lookdwon Window is just what the name says- a window you can look down at the ground from 145m. Pretty cool, huh? But that’s not the end! The glass is durable enough for a few people to stand on it. Now you can literally have a city under you feet :D

Another nice thing is that the window is cleared by the member of the staff quite often, so footprints won’t block your view (or photo shoot). There are bigger and smaller windows all over first floor of Main Observatory.

A quite useful thing inside the tower is that there are signs telling which part of the Tokyo can be see by the window. That way you don’t have to guess if it’s Shibuya or Ikebukuro, you can be certain :)

First floor of Main Deck with Lookdown Window and signs explaining what exactly you are seeing

Another thing you might miss if you don't plan carefully- Ascending Stairway. It’s only open during weekends and holidays. They connect Foot Town roof and 1st floor of Main Deck. So you can just take the stairs instead of elevator... there’s a certificate for these who complete the challenge! It’s open only on weekends and holidays.

On the second floor you can also buy tickets for Special Observatory- that’s where are the stairs to the lift too (yes, you have to take some stairs before the lift). There’s also a place where you can have a photo taken- with the view in the background, a miniature tower next to you and a tower’s mascot in your hands. Another surprise- there’s a massage salon in there too.

One thing you probably want to find is a stamp table- there are white, clean sheets of paper there and a huge stamp with Tokyo Tower- you can make and take a memo from your trip to the tower. It’s quite hidden, so look around- it’s near the wall, in the corner.

Special Deck

Special Deck is not as special as you might think. Apart from, you know, better view since it’s higher (250m) there’s not much there. It’s smaller and there’s quite a queue to the elevator (there’s only one up while there are three to from Foot Town to the Main Observatory. It’s called “main” for a reason). as well as to the lift going down. There are pictures next to every window with the Tokyo’s panorama and names of most recognisable landmarks.

And then, there’s the main course which is the view: