Tokyo Tower vs. Mori Tower

About a month ago or so, me and a couple of other international students decided to hike out towards tokyo city to visit tokyo tower that is located near Roppongi, the place where we had gone clubbing before. After taking an hour train ride out to tokyo tower, we exited the station and headed toward the tower. It was a clear and beautiful day which was to our advantage because we wanted to take this opprotunity to view tokyo from the tallest building in japan. It only took about 10 minutes from the station to the tower, but I ended up being slightly winded from the steep vertical incline that led up to the tower during the last two minutes of our journey. Being able to look at tokyo tower up close was similar, but not as awe inspiring as the effiel tower in France. I remembered feeling greatly moved when I had the chance to stand up close to the effiel tower. I don't know if it was because the effiel tower forever took away from me the newness of such a grand building or if the surrounding area (the tower look like it stood in a mini parking lot atop a hill next to a heavily wooded park) just spoiled the mood. During the day, the tower looks orange. One of the students told me that the orange color was close to what is known as the standard international red color. I was quite puzzled since the color looked clearly orange and not red. After debating this fact for a good 5 minutes we decided to go in. Unlike the effiel tower, which only has elevators that bring to the top of the tower for your viewing pleasure, the first five floors of tokyo tower are filled with shops and exhibits. These shops and exhibits included the standard おみやげ (souvenir) shops and multiple museums like an outdated wax museum and guiness world of records museum. Apparently, the GWR had my most favorite person in the world so I couldn't help but take a picture with him.

How I really feel about President Bush

They also had a trick gallery which we had a lot of fun with. But the best part of the tower was the view from the primary observation deck.

As a way of ripping off tourists some more, for an extra 800 yen you can view the city from the top observation deck. The top observation deck which was much much smaller than the primary observation deck seemed a bit flimsy and you could feel the deck shaking whenever someone took a step.

After looking out from Tokyo Tower we decided to take the opposite approach and head over to Roppongi's Mori Tower. The Mori Tower which is pretty tall in itself is actually one of most popular places to view both the surrounding city in the Tokyo prefecture area as well as Tokyo Tower. If I had my choice in choosing between the both, Mori Tower would definitely win out. Not only is it located near a Banana Republic and a Zara it also has beautiful landscaping outside of the tower, several really nice restaurants, and an art gallery that is located inside the tower. It also has a beautiful indoor viewing deck made of all glass with a variation of seating styles to look out into the city. By the time we made it to Mori Tower it was already way past sunset and the lights from Tokyo Tower had been lit. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The seats offered us a chance to sit right in front of the glass windows and look out into the city. You could spot some well known landmarks and buildings as well as several ferris wheels of which Tokyo has a numerous amount of.

The Mori Tower also had some of the coolest seats around. If they hadn't been very big and if there weren't security around I would have stolen one. They are couch/chairs that light up and change color depending on the weight that is placed on the couch. Though it sounds simple it kept me occupied for quite some time.

My recommendation: unless you are dying to go into Tokyo Tower you are just as well off going to the Mori Tower. The crowds and lines are less and they are open really late (until 10 pm). It's also the perfect date spot. I hope I get a chance to visit again before I leave!