Standing at a monstrous 634 meters (2080 feet) tall, this gracious mammoth towers over the Tokyo skyline like a neon-clad sentry watching over the city.
I've been there 3 times now. Twice it was raining, but once it was blue skies without a cloud in sight, this Spring, while the cherry blossoms were in full-bloom. And I really wanted to get up to the top.
As a photographer, I love viewpoints and skyscrapers. They give you some sweet views that you'd never really be able to experience otherwise. It's also neat to think about how the city (especially Tokyo!) has evolved over the last few hundred years. It would be neat to be able to watch it all from that viewpoint.
Here are some shots I took a few years back from one of the viewpoints at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills. We were fortunate enough to have a clear shot all the way west to Mt. Fuji during the sunset.
Anyways, back to the SkyTree. It's a monster, and it takes like 30 minutes to walk around the mall at its base. There are all kinds of stores, food courts and souvenirs in the mall, but let me warn you that this place gets CROWDED. As I mentioned before, we were there on a beautiful day in Spring, and there were some points we could barely walk. We were pulling roller-luggage with us too, which I would strongly recommend not doing!
After a pleasant stop at the Starbucks, we attempted to get on a lift to slide up to the top viewpoints.
Turns out there was something like a 4.5 hour wait in line just to get on the elevators to get to the top!
So if you're planning to go, be ready for that and try to get in a tour or get there early!
I haven't let go of the dream...and I think I will one day be able to get to the top! And when I do, I'll share the pictures with all of you :D
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