Tokyo Sky Tree lights up for holiday nights晴空塔 開業式典

Tokyo Sky Tree thronged with visitors at grand opening

Japan's newest landmark, the Tokyo Sky Tree, had its grand opening May 22 and thousands thronged to catch spectacular views of the capital from the world's tallest free-standing structure. (May 23)

Thousands of visitors converge on the Tokyo Sky Tree complex on May 22 for the grand opening. (Naoko Kawamura)

日本東京晴空塔正式對外開放（路透）

〔編譯林翠儀／綜合報導〕以634公尺的高度成為全球最高電波塔的東京晴空塔（Sky Tree），22日正式對外開放，主辦單位特別邀請在地墨田區出生的台裔棒球名將王貞治為晴空塔商城剪綵，領到第一張登塔證的則是晴空塔命名者之一的中年上班族中澤步女士。
電波塔高634公尺 全球第一
雖然天公不作美，東京一早下起小雨，塔上烏雲籠罩，傍晚還因強風造成上下觀景台電梯暫時封閉，遊客受困塔上約半小時，卻仍不減登高遠眺的興致。晴空塔附近一大早就擠滿準備入場的遊客，道路交通也出現混亂，警方出動200人維持秩序。
晴空塔的營運公司表示，首日9000張觀景台入場券已全部售罄，至於附設商城原本預估20萬人次的客流量，受到天候影響略有減少。
9千張門票賣光 王貞治剪綵
東京晴空塔於2008年7月動工，耗資650億日圓（約240億台幣）興建，總高度634公尺，除鐵塔350公尺及450公尺處分別設有觀景台之外，周邊還設有水族館、天文館及大型綜合購物商城。
據晴空塔營運公司估計，開幕第一年將可吸引3000萬名遊客，為周邊地區帶來數百億日圓的商機。為管制開放初期的人潮，觀景台部分從22日起到7月10日止全部採預售制，目前已被預約一空。
雖 然晴空塔觀景台在22日中午過後，才正式開放給預約民眾參觀，但名為「天空町（Sokamachi）」的購物商城已搶先在上午開幕，以墨田區榮譽區民受邀 剪綵的王貞治表示，身為在地人與有榮焉。王貞治隨後也和晴空塔命名者之一的中澤步，以及開發商「東武塔晴空塔公司」社長鈴木道明，成為第一批登上觀景台的 訪客。
現年42歲的中澤步，4年前在下班搭乘電車時看到晴空塔的命名票選活動，她為「東京Sky Tree」投下一票，幸運地被抽中成為第一位參觀者。中澤帶著兒子一起登上350公尺的第一觀景台「天望台」，領取第一號登塔認證書，直呼自己好幸福。


 东京有了晴空塔   英

 東京有了晴空塔 英FT東京分社社長王明：634米高的晴空塔是目前全球最高的自立塔。但它並不是從高空領略東京勝景的唯一去處。

萬斎さんが祝いの舞を披露　東京スカイツリーで開業式典

東京スカイツリータウンの開業式典が開かれた天望デッキで狂言を披露する野村萬斎さん＝１４日午前１０時２９分、東京都墨田区、代表撮影

東京スカイツリー（東京都墨田区）の開業式典が１４日、開かれた。高さ３５０メートルの天望デッキが会場となり、岡田克也・副総理や石原慎太郎・都知事、放送事業者の代表、地元関係者ら約１００人が出席。狂言師の野村萬斎さんが祝いの舞を披露した。
東武鉄道の根津嘉澄（よしずみ）社長は「スカイツリーが観光立国日本の世界的名所となることが大きな夢。大勢の方にお越しいただきたい。東日本大震災から元気を取り戻すきっかけにもなれば。これに勝る喜びはありません」とあいさつした。
スカイツリーは２２日に開業予定。地上デジタル放送などを送信する電波塔で、高さ６３４メートル。２００８年７月に着工し、１１年３月に６００メートルを超えて「世界一高いタワー」となった。３１２店の入る商業施設なども併設し、一斉にオープンする。

Tokyo’s high life

By Mure Dickie

The cherry blossoms were out when I made my way to Tokyo’s newest tourist attraction, but for once it was not the blooms that admiring urbanites were taking snaps of on their mobile phones. Instead, the handsets were aimed higher, at a technological marvel flowering above them.

At 634m high, Tokyo Skytree claims the title of the world’s tallest free-standing tower, a slender shaft of white-painted steel that dominates the Japanese capital’s eastern skyline. The structure’s primary task is to transmit television and radio signals but city officials hope that when it opens to the public on May 22 it will also become a major visitor destination and an engine for the local economy.
On a warm spring day last week I was allowed to ride the high-speed lift for a preview of the Skytree’s main attraction: the multiple viewing decks wrapped around its steel and concrete structure – one at around 350m off the ground and the other at 450m. The Skytree’s exact place in the record books depends on semantics: Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is 195m higher but, because it contains apartments and offices, is classified as a building rather than a tower.
To emerge from a lift into any of these decks is to appreciate anew the sheer scale of greater Tokyo. Beyond the outward sloping, non-reflective, plate glass windows, the teeming metropolis spreads out into the distance.
Far off in the haze you can see the clusters of skyscrapers around the commercial centre of Shinjuku and other downtown districts. All around lie the countless smaller office towers, apartment blocks and low rise homes in which the region’s 35m inhabitants pass their days.
It is a view at once impressive and appalling. The sheer scale of the urban sprawl and the paucity of visible nature feels almost oppressive. When I posted on Facebook a picture of the view taken on my mobile phone, the first responses were from two Japanese fellow Tokyo residents. “OMG [Oh my God],” wrote one. “No green at all!,” commented the other.
Operator Tobu Tower Skytree will be hoping other potential visitors are more enthusiastic. Tickets are hardly cheap: entry to the 450m deck costs Y3,000 (£23).
To add to the appeal, the decks have been fitted with lots of other attractions. Among the best are high-tech screens that show video images of the view outside. Visitors can touch parts of the scene to zoom in (a handy substitute for the binoculars I forgot to take), shift the view from day to night or call up historical notes in English or Japanese.
In a nice touch, there is also on display a copy of a 19th-century folding screen painting of Tokyo that uses an aerial perspective intriguingly similar to that offered by Skytree. One deck boasts sections of glass floors that allows those not too troubled by heights to stare straight down at the ground far below.
And since Tokyo is the world capital of cute, visitors to the upper levels are greeted by the building’s mascot, cheery Sorakara “a young girl with a star-shaped head who descended from the skies”. (For those immune to Sorakara’s charms, Skytree has two supporting “official characters” – the penguin-like Eppenpen and the traditional “old dog” Sukoburuburu.)
Skytree’s height and relative elegance means it threatens to eclipse the Tokyo Tower, a much-loved but somewhat garish Eiffel Tower-look-alike built in the 1950s. And while last year’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake bent Tokyo Tower’s tip, Skytree’s operators say it sailed through the tremor unscathed. The building has a unique anti-earthquake system that boasts a reinforced concrete core (containing the 2,523-step emergency staircase) and a separate steel lattice structure. Operators claim the combination will reduce shaking by about half compared with conventional structures.
I was certainly impressed by the attention to detail shown elsewhere in the structure. Nearly 2,000 LED lights have been installed to allow the structure to glow in multiple colours. Each lift has a separate decoration scheme, and the upper ones boast glass roofs. In a charming example of Japanese punctiliousness, the leaflet guide I was handed on arrival came with a separate printed erratum. It took me a while to work out what was being corrected – only after multiple readings did I realise that the problem was a single missing full stop.
Tourists eager to shop will also appreciate the retail opportunities, including the mall which spreads out from the tower’s base and will be one of Tokyo’s biggest. They can also splash out at altitude: the decks boast a coffee shop (lattes cost Y450), restaurant (dinner courses from Y12,600 not including lift tickets) and a souvenir shop. This last has some items at sky-high prices – not least the 63cm-tall, light-up crystal Skytree model, on sale for Y665,700.
Still, visitors should not think Skytree is the only way to appreciate Tokyo from above. One solid favourite on my own personal tourist trail is a trip to the observatory floors of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. Though a relatively lowly 202m above the ground, the observatories have fine views that include both far-off sprawl and close-up skyscrapers. There is also a wonderfully tacky tourist shop. Best of all, entry is free.
Mure Dickie is the FT’s Tokyo bureau chief
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For more information and tickets, see www.tokyo-skytree.jp/english/. Inside Japan Tours can offer tailormade trips to Tokyo, incorporating city tours and Skytree visits. For information on Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building see www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH

 我造訪東京這座最新落成的旅遊景點時，櫻花已經凋謝，但這一次，興致勃勃的東京人掏出手機抓拍的不是櫻花盛開的美景，而是高聳在他們頭頂半空中的一項科技傑作。634米高的東京晴空塔(Tokyo Skytree)是目前全​​球最高的自立塔，這座由白色鋼架構建的修長軸形塔樓成了東京東部城區的新地標。整座塔的主要功能是傳輸電視廣播信號，但東京市官員希望它於5月22日正式對公眾開放後，成為另一著名景點，並成為提振本地區經濟的引擎。上週一個春暖花開的日子，我獲許乘坐高速電梯，預先一睹晴空塔的豐姿：兩個繞鋼筋混凝土結構而建的空中展望台——其中一座位於350米高空，另一座則位於450米高空。晴空塔被譽為“全球第一高樓”純屬摳字眼的結果：位於迪拜的哈里發塔(Dubai's Burj Khalifa)比晴空塔高出195米，但由於它還建有公寓及辦公室，所以被視作樓宇而非塔式建築。乘坐電梯登上展望台後，可以再次領略東京大都市的恢弘氣勢。透過外面非反射的傾斜狀厚玻璃窗，繁華大都市的盛況盡收眼底、一望無垠。放眼望去，新宿(Shinjuku)商業中心的摩天樓群以及其它繁華市區盡入眼簾。四周還有數不清的小型寫字樓、公寓大樓以及低層住宅樓，它們就是東京3500萬居民的休養生息之地。景色壯觀、令人震撼。看著東京市向四處不斷拓展的規模以及遮天蔽日的景象，著實動人心魄。我把用自己手機拍攝的一張高空俯瞰照片上傳至Facebook後，首個回貼的就是兩位東京居民。 “我的老天，”其中一位這樣回帖。 “竟然看不到一絲綠色！”另一位這樣評論道。運營商東武鐵道(Tobu Tower Skytree)希望屆時遊客會紛至沓來。但票價一點都不便宜；登上450米的展望台的票價是3000日元（約合23英鎊）。為了進一步吸引遊客，展望台還添加了諸多景緻。其中最絕的要數安裝的高科技屏幕，可以不斷播放登高覽勝的視頻及圖片。通過觸摸屏幕，遊客可以放大某些景點（本人忘了帶望遠鏡，手動觸摸即可解決之），白天的景與夜景可以自由切換，以及點出英語或日語的相關歷史註解。輕輕一觸摸，即可看到一幅19世紀的東京城市屏風畫，它使用空間透視法，與晴空塔上的高空瞭望效果圖幾乎如出一轍。其中一座展望台還設置了幾塊玻璃地板，可以讓那些不恐高的遊客直接俯瞰腳下的世界。由於東京被譽為世界玲瓏之都，登上最高層後，迎接遊客的就是大樓的吉祥物：歡快的Sorakara——“長著五角星腦袋、從天而降的小女孩形象”。對於那些對Sorakara清新可人形象無動於衷的遊客，晴空塔還配備了另外兩位“官方形象代言人”——企鵝形象的Eppenpen以及傳統活字典爺爺狗形象的Sukoburuburu。高聳典雅的晴空塔讓東京鐵塔(Tokyo Tower)顯得黯然失色，外形酷似埃菲爾鐵塔(Eiffel Tower)的東京鐵塔建於上世紀50年代，深受日本人喜愛，但又顯得過於艷麗。雖說去年發生的九級大地震震歪了東京鐵塔的塔尖，但晴空塔的運營商說晴空塔卻毫髮未損。晴空塔建有一套特別的抗震系統，建有加固的混凝土心柱（擁有2523級疏散樓梯）以及專門的鋼筋晶格結構。運營商說：與傳統的建築相比，這種結構能讓震動消減50%。讓我印象深刻的是：晴空塔對每個“細枝末節”力求精益求精。安裝的近2000盞LED燈讓它在夜色中顯得絢麗多彩。每座電梯的裝修風格迥異，通往頂層的電梯則裝有玻璃頂。體現日本人做事一絲不苟的經典例子是：抵達晴空塔後，呈給我的宣傳冊上單獨列有印刷勘誤表。本人費了一些周折才整明白錯在何處——通讀多遍後方才意識到僅僅只是漏掉了一個句號。購物成癮的遊客還可以在此一遂心願，橫跨幾個樓層的商場屆時將成為東京規模最大的購物中心。遊客還可在高空盡情花錢：展望台設有咖啡屋（拿鐵售價450日元）、餐館（不算觀光電梯費，大餐起價12600日元）以及紀念品商店。有些東西的售價高得讓人咂舌——尤其是通體透亮的63厘米高晴空塔水晶模型，標價高達665700日元。然而，遊客不應該想當然地認為晴空塔就是從高空領略東京勝景的唯一去處。本人最心儀的遊歷就是登臨位於新宿的東京都政府大樓(Metropolitan Government Building)的瞭望台。雖說它的高度只有202米，但瞭望台視野開闊，既可欣賞一望無際的都市景像以及近處的摩天樓群，還可以逛一逛那家不起眼但又很棒的旅遊用品店。最重要的是登高覽勝無需門票。王明是《金融時報》東京站負責人.................................................. .....................欲了解更多遊覽以及票務方面的詳情，請瀏覽網站：www.tokyo-skytree.jp/english/。日本國內游公司(Inside Japan Tours)還提供東京特色遊，把城市遊與登塔覽勝合二為一。欲了解更多東京都政府大樓之詳情，敬請瀏覽以下網站：www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH。

2011/12/25

An aerial view of Tokyo Sky Tree lit up on Dec. 23. (Eiji Hori)The illuminated Tokyo Sky Tree is seen from a tour boat in Sumidagawa river in Tokyo. (Chisato Matsumoto)Many people flock to Genmoribashi bridge, about 600 meters west of Tokyo Sky Tree, to take pictures of the lit tower on Dec. 23. (Kazuhisa Kurokawa)Tokyo Sky Tree stands in a white glow on Dec. 23. (Toshiyuki Takeya)

Tokyo Sky Tree, a new broadcast tower under construction in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, was aglow in white lights on Dec. 23 to celebrate the holiday season.