 Tokyo
Tower likely to get culture status
The company that owns Tokyo Tower wants to register it as state-designated
cultural property, company officials said yesterday.
Nippon Television City Corp said the
333-metre radio and television tower, the world’s tallest iron tower,
will mark its 50th anniversary in December 2008, making it eligible for
registration.
It will cease to function as a transmitter in 2011, when analogue broadcasting
is replaced by terrestrial digital broadcasting. A new 610-metre tower
to be built in Sumida Ward will handle digital broadcasts.
“In order to preserve the tower, we must bring in tourists, and
it is vital to take special measures to attract people,” said Yoshihiro
Watanabe, a senior company official. Tokyo Tower was completed in 1958
and became a symbol of Japan’s postwar recovery and economic growth.
The Cultural Affairs Agency said the tower should have little trouble
gaining approval as a cultural property. “It is a building symbolic
of Tokyo’s skyline and is very well-known. It is also valuable in
terms of its architectural history and qualifies for registration,”
an agency official said.
Last year, Nagoya TV Tower, which was built in 1954, was registered as
a cultural property. The owner of Osaka’s Tsutenkaku Tower, which
was completed in 1956, is also applying for cultural recognition.
Source: Media Network, The Japan Times
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