April 9th Tokyo Tower!

Today was our realtor's day off so we had a day off of apartment hunting, (apparently, he is recommending we have a couple apartment choices in case we don't pass the paperwork test for one we have a backup plan). Anyway, a Pastor friend and his wife were in town from South Korea today so we met up with them for a little fellowship and sight seeing!  We know Bobby and Trish Montoya from way back in the '80's and every few years or so our paths cross in unexpected places! They are currently missionaries in South Korea and had business here in Tokyo so it was nice to connect up again!   
 


We met up and headed to a noodle shop for some lunch and then we walked over to Tokyo Tower.
Outside of the Tower entrance many carp banners were flying. These are in preparation for the celebration of Boys day. Technically it's now Children's Day but everyone still celebrates Girls Day on March 3rd with dolls and special food and Boys Day on May 5th with Carp Banners (because they are a strong fish) and special foods. Usually the largest banner is flown for the Father and smaller carp banners for the sons in the family.

 

A couple of facts about Tokyo Tower:

 

 

 

333mHeight of the Tower. Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high.

 

140 drums Paint used for the Tower was 28,000 liters, equal to 140 drums. The Tower is painted orange and white according to the Civil Aeronautic Law.

24 broadcast waves This is the number of broadcast waves that Tokyo Tower is transmitting. Among them, 14 are analog waves and 10 are digital waves, which show that most broadcast stations in Tokyo are transmitting their waves from the Tower.

176 lights One hundred and seventy-six floodlights installed in various parts light up the Tower. The Tower is illuminated with an orange light in winter and white incandescent light in summer, delighting visitors and passers-by.

When we entered the Tower we took an elevator to the first Observation deck. The view was amazing! Then Gary, Bobby and Trish rode the elevator up even higher to the upper observation deck. I declined as I really don't like heights or elevators and heights plus elevators even less! They all agreed when they came back down that it's just as well I didn't go up because they could feel the tower swaying in the wind! EEEEK!!!! However I sent the camera up with Gary and he got more pics!    We went back downstairs and went to some of the shops and had some coffee. I'll definitely want to return on another day as the tower also has an aquarium, wax museum, and an amusement park that we didn't get a chance to see today. By the time we left the tower it was dark outside and the Tower was lit up and beautiful!   We even got dramatic and took one with flowers as we walked away!       I also saw some cute little street lamps!   And then the day was done! Bobby and Trish headed back to their hotel and we boarded the train for the trip back to our place. It was very nice to be able to meet up with them and enjoy a day out!