The Tokyo Television Tower: tickets, hours and illumination

About the tower

The Tokyo Television Tower, also known as Tokyo Tower, was built on the model of the Eiffel Tower and reaches a height of 333 metres. Construction was completed in 1958, and the tower became one of the city’s symbols. The illumination was designed by Motoko Ishii: it works from sunset to midnight, white in summer and orange in the other seasons. The description also notes a glass floor with a view of night Tokyo.

Tickets, platforms and how not to stand in a queue

Tokyo Tower, the Tokyo Television Tower and the “red tower” are one and the same attraction, and you can look for tickets under any of the names. A ticket to the lower Main Deck at a height of 150 metres is sold separately from the trip to the upper Top Deck, to which you are taken up to 250 metres by advance booking for a time. If you want both the sunset and the night city, book a Main Deck ticket, and take the Top Deck only if you want to add a timed slot to the evening. Through the catalogue below the ticket is issued online and paid for by Russian card in roubles, and at the entrance you show the electronic code.

The tower is open from 9:00 to 23:00, with entry closing at 22:30. The longest queues for the lifts gather at sunset hours and at weekends, so either arrive exactly at opening or after nine in the evening, when most groups have already left. It is on the Main Deck that there are glass windows in the floor (Lookdown Window), through which you can see Shiba Park and the streets below.

How to get there on your own

• Metro. The nearest stations are Akabanebashi (the Oedo line) and Kamiyacho (the Hibiya line), each 5–7 minutes’ walk. Onarimon and Daimon stations are farther, but on the way you will see the tower against the temple.
• JR. To Hamamatsucho on the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines, from there about a quarter of an hour through Shiba Park and the Zojo-ji temple.
• What is nearby. The Zojo-ji temple stands at the very foot of the tower, and it looks especially good from above. Below, in FootTown, there are shops and cafes you can go into before going up.

When to go up and what to compare with

The tower was built as an analogue of the Eiffel, 333 metres high, but for the view from the Main Deck it beats Skytree for being nearer the city centre: from here you can see Roppongi, Tokyo Bay and, in clear weather, the silhouette of Fuji. If you have only one evening and are choosing between Tokyo Skytree and this tower, take Tokyo Tower for the atmosphere of old Tokyo and the illumination, and Skytree for the height.

Which tickets and tours there are

Prices are as of 10 October 2026. Check the contents, language and conditions on the page of the offer you choose.

Restrictions and tips

• Catch the sunset. Arrive 40–60 minutes before sunset: first you will see the daytime city, then the lights. It gets dark early in winter, so at 17:00 you can already be standing on the platform.
• Visibility. Haze and low cloud eat the view, especially in summer. On clear winter days Fuji is visible from both platforms.
• Photos. Tripods and drones will not be let in, and flash in the windows only reflects, so press the camera to the glass and turn off the screen.
• Passport and bags. A passport is not always needed, but the e-ticket and phone must be charged. Luggage and large backpacks are better left at the hotel.
• Combine. Zojo-ji, Shiba Park and evening Roppongi on foot make one good evening without the metro.

The description is based on Trip.com cards; opening hours and the contents of offers may change.