New Tokyo Tower on the drawingboard
Plans are underway to build a New Tokyo Tower that will serve as a transmitter for NHK and five other TV stations. Scheduled for completion by the year 2010, the new tower will be nearly twice as tall as the current Tokyo Tower.
The tower is to be about 600 meters high, or nearly twice as tall as 333-meter Tokyo Tower in Minato Ward and higher than the world’s tallest tower, the 553-meter CN Tower in Toronto. It will be built on a former railway shunting yard along the Tobu-Isesaki Line’s Narihirabashi and Oshiage stations.
When completed, the tower will be the tallest free-standing tower in the world and the tallest man-made structure in Japan.
Supporters say the new tower is needed to support the switchover to digital broadcasting from analog and next-generation telephone systems, while some are calling the new tower a waste of money.
The race for the world’s biggest phallic symbol continues.
March 29th, 2006 at 6:31 amHeadline…
March 29th, 2006 at 7:34 amOh, and I’m actually eager to see this built, despite the cost I guess.
March 29th, 2006 at 7:35 amNew Tokyo Tokyo. Better than old Tokyo Tokyo.
March 29th, 2006 at 10:07 amAll right, all right. . . I fixed the darn headline (which read “Tokyo Tokyo”).
Yesterday was a rough day around here at Japundit Central. I blame the headline problem on the darn hackers.
March 29th, 2006 at 10:39 amlol
March 29th, 2006 at 12:11 pmHopefully they’ll design the New Tower to better withstand supernatural activity, giant robots/monsters, and climactic battles.
March 29th, 2006 at 12:51 pmI think this is good use of their money, actually. A rather cool project. What else are they going to do with their money, build even more useless roads in the middle of the inaka?
March 29th, 2006 at 5:38 pmI like towers. Can’t believe the attitude of all those nay sayers. What’s up with them?
March 29th, 2006 at 7:07 pmOne of the other Japan blog sites carried the expected moanings about the wretched state of Japanese TV, but maybe HD will encourage them to improve. To put it into perspective, the Sumida Tower will be 750 feet taller than the Empire State Building.
March 29th, 2006 at 7:08 pm“…the wretched state of Japanese TV…”
Wretched compared to what? TV in other countries, particularly the United States?
Those people on that other blog must be wearing cultural blinders!
In fact, Japanese TV has an advantage over American TV in that it doesn’t presume to try to inculcate people with their version of moral standards while pretending to offer dramatic entertainment.
Meanwhile, entertainment television in Japan makes no apologies for being anything other than cheap chewing gum for idle minds.
March 29th, 2006 at 8:20 pmHehe I like that metaphor.. And agree, there’s no shame is selling bubblegum but don’t try to pass it off as steak (*cough*CNN ABC NBC FOX etc.*cough*)
March 29th, 2006 at 8:29 pm[...] East Asia Japan, Business, Internet & Telecoms Global Roundups “The race for the world’s biggest phallic symbol continues,” says [...]
March 30th, 2006 at 4:41 amIn fact, Japanese TV has an advantage over American TV in that it doesn’t presume to try to inculcate people with their version of moral standards while pretending to offer dramatic entertainment.
Hey! You obviously aren’t watching cable over there!
March 30th, 2006 at 6:47 amUSA USA USA USA USA USA
March 30th, 2006 at 5:58 pmMarie: I have cable, though I sure don’t spend a whole lot of time watching it. Anytime I watch TV for more than 10 minutes a day is a big TV day for me. What Japanese programs are you referring to?
I know I’m not going to win any friends by being so specific, but through Japanese television, I’ve had the opportunity to see (in English):
Seinfeld, Friends, The Simpsons, West Wing, Ali McBeal, Sex and the City, The X Files, Millenium, Homicide, the lawyer show with the male model lead and the affirmative action quota- fulfilling supporting actors that included an African-American male, an obese woman, and a nerd, King of the Hill, ER, Chicago Hope, some New York cop show, the various Star Trek remakes, and more I can’t think of.
I couldn’t handle watching most of these for more than 60 seconds, and some, such as West Wing, more than 15 or 20 seconds.
I did manage to watch a couple of Homicide episodes all the way through, but that’s because I’m a Baltimore native and it was interesting seeing the home town portrayed on network television. But it quickly became more than I could bear.
I watched one episode of Sex in the City for about 10 or 15 minutes, but that was because I was surprised at the sorts of things you can do and say on American TV now. I found all the women on the show to be singularly unappealing. I sometimes wonder if I lived in the US I might become celibate by choice.
I also watched Ali McBeal for about five minutes one night, mostly because I couldn’t believe how stupid it was.
I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would think that watching any these programs is so worthwhile it makes Japanese TV wretched. From my perspective, the American programs were just as wretched, but in a different way.
In fact, I think they’re more unbearable than Japanese TV because they’re so pretentious, which most Japanese TV is not.
Sorry if anyone gets upset by this, but remember, there’s no accounting for tastes–mine OR yours.
March 30th, 2006 at 8:21 pmIn fact, Japanese TV has an advantage over American TV in that it doesn’t presume to try to inculcate people with their version of moral standards while pretending to offer dramatic entertainment.
This was the comment I was responding to, and I think it’s interesting. I guess most TV shows are constantly in the grip of morality — either self-consciously trying to prove it doesn’t care about morality (Sex in the City or the Sopranos), or adhering to some moral rigidity — as is much of the culture, frankly. I don’t watch all that much TV, so it’s hard for me to make a sweeping statement. But if it doesn’t appeal to you, then it’s definitely good you don’t watch.
And of course Japanese TV is different — the whole culture approaches morality so differently.
BTW, I wasn’t saying that I think US TV is better than Japan; I just wondered if you had seen television lately because I think the writers think they are far less “morality” obsessed than in past years; no more “Love Boat” or “Little House on the Prairie” or “Family Ties.” A recent article in the New York Times, for example, talked about how the big thing in American TV is to kill off a beloved character.
But maybe, as I said, everyone is still just reacting to the whole good/evil Judeo-Christian nature of western culture, albeit in a more cynical and self-consious way. I hadn’t thought about that before your comment.
I love Japanese TV when I get the chance to watch it (which is either in Japan, or when I am in a renting frenzy from my local Family Mart). The videos are helpful and I can follow dramas, or jidaigeki (which I like, except I get sad when everyone dies in the end). Sometimes my boyfriend watches too and I valiantly try to translate it for him. I would really love for these shows to be downloadable and imagine they will be one day soon.
I watched one episode of Sex in the City for about 10 or 15 minutes, but that was because I was surprised at the sorts of things you can do and say on American TV now. I found all the women on the show to be singularly unappealing. I sometimes wonder if I lived in the US I might become celibate by choice.
Well, if that’s the case, then it’s a good thing you live in Japan! Sounds like you’ve found a true home.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:58 amI hope you would never say such horrible things about Seinfeld.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:00 amI hope you would never say such horrible things about Seinfeld.
Of course not; that was a show about nothing, right?
March 31st, 2006 at 5:02 amThis is not directed at Japan especially since its a tv tower but I think its funny how some of these super tall structures are cropping up in places that hardly have a skyline to start with. It was weird to see the Petronas towers amongst a bunch of midrise buildings.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:40 amPLEASE STOP THIS MONSTROSITY. I AM COUNTING ON YOU GUYS. THANK YOU.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:57 amHistorically when societies stop building (and thinking) big they tend to go into decline - it’s either a symptom or part of the cause. True since the end of the Egyptian Old Kingdom and you can actually see it starting to happen in the U.S. (puny Freedom Tower piece of junk), while the Chinese are dead set on building stuff that’s just humongous. Personally I hope that thing get built, along with the Shimizu pyramid in Tokyo Bay and that ultra-tall skyscraper they’re planning somewhere.. For Japan, for the Emperor, for 9-11!!
Thank god we’re still making large cars.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:15 amDuo: Please man, if we haven’t progressed from Egyptian times then we’re in real trouble. Do you really see Tokyo Tower as one of man’s great achievements? It’s not like the Great Pyramid in that it can’t be replicated. F**k, that’s what this whole post is about!
Survival, nay, greatness as a nation is defined far differently today. Big buildings are a laughably modern aspiration. We should be striving for sustainability and your Texas-sized comments are hardly helping matters.
March 31st, 2006 at 12:42 pmTexas-sized comments are fine with me, Duo. (And now that I’m too old & stiff to climb in and out of Miatas, I’ve come to an appreciation of big cars, too.)
March 31st, 2006 at 12:57 pmSurvival, nay, greatness as a nation is defined far differently today. Big buildings are a laughably modern aspiration.
Hmm. This is interesting. Can you elaborate?
April 1st, 2006 at 10:45 amMarie: When I mention morality, I’m not specifically referring to sex. In fact, sex has little to do with it.
By morality, I’m talking about the assumptions American TV makes about how people are supposed to behave in certain situations. Most of it is pure propaganda.
Here’s an example from an older show: Bill Cosby
His son had bad grades in school. The father (Cosby) was giving him a lecture about how poor grades translated to poor job opportunities in life. (He actually sounded much like my father.)
The son responded that he thought doing something like working in a gas station (forget exactly, you get the drift) was cool, and then–get this–because he was the man’s son, the man was supposed to show him unconditional love and support him in anything he did.
This got wild approval from the studio audience for the taping.
Cosby, however, was having none of it, and got even more stern. Silence out of the audience.
When most of the audience thinks the son’s way of thinking is correct, there are some serious problems going on.
I classify all this stuff under the general heading of morality. Perhaps there is a better word.
I really doubt people are doing any more sex these days than when I was young and single.
And here’s another thought that’s not going to win me any friends: I was discussing similar topics with a friend in the US (by email) who is married to a woman from The Philippines and who has traveled a bit.
We agreed that most Americans are pretty hopeless when it comes to the sex act. They can talk the talk, but they sure can’t walk the walk.
April 1st, 2006 at 8:27 pmAll I’m saying is I thought we were past the idea that bigger is better, but apparently not. Just look at this obsequious headline from the sycophantic FujiSankei Business.i, a business paper with a bad habit of copy-pasting press releases and passing them off as news stories:
“World’s largest tower ignition fuel [for economy], to be completed in Tokyo’s Sumida-ku by 2011″
OK, perhaps the giant skyscrapers in Tokyo make a giant tower necessary in order for broadcasts to get out. But what on earth is the point of “digital broadcasting” when there is HD cable TV and quickly improving Internet technology?
It sounds like the TV cartel, the Tobu company, the Tokyo government, and other interested parties are pushing this tower to keep the broadcast TV cartel in business at the expense of better technology. When do you think on-demand cable will be widespread in Japan? Hm, how about never!
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:04 amMarie: When I mention morality, I’m not specifically referring to sex. In fact, sex has little to do with it.
Sex? Did I mention sex? I was pretty sure you weren’t talking about sex! And actually, neither was I. We can definitely have a conversation sometime about differing attitudes toward sex, and you will definitely catch me agreeing with you that America has a bizarre relationship to it.
At least the population here seems to keep growing.
You mention the Cosby show — but that is an old, old show that would never get the critic’s attention now. Actually, when you first mentioned “morality” I was thinking of shows like Cosby or Little House on the Prairie where characters existed in a moral universe. I was also thinking of soap operas where gay characters (if they exist are) are pure and minorities (again, if they exist) are perfect.
But TV has shifted in the last 3 or 4 years, and that was why I asked if you get cable. The shows that get attention — and are maybe/possibly finally getting my attention (cause I don’t watch very much) are ones like Battlestar Galactica where people have sex and go to very dark places, or 24, the first season of which is basically crack for TV. I couldn’t stop watching when I started (which was right after I got back from Japan and which pretty much guaranteed that I’d have jet-lag forever).
There are still the straightforward boring crime shows which, again, live in a moral universe, but there are also some signs that things have changed a bit.
I’m not trying to pick a fight with you — I was genuinely interested in your point of view.
April 2nd, 2006 at 6:10 amOK, perhaps the giant skyscrapers in Tokyo make a giant tower necessary in order for broadcasts to get out. But what on earth is the point of “digital broadcasting” when there is HD cable TV and quickly improving Internet technology?
It sounds like the TV cartel, the Tobu company, the Tokyo government, and other interested parties are pushing this tower to keep the broadcast TV cartel in business at the expense of better technology. When do you think on-demand cable will be widespread in Japan? Hm, how about never!
Hunh. You know, this is interesting. There have been a number of articles lately on the “future of television” which I really enjoy reading. I’ve become one of those people who would much rather use i-tunes to download my TV shows, or rent my Japanese videos (which I would like to download too), or use Netflix to set up what I want to watch when. As a consumer, the classic network model as have totally lost me, and I know I’m not the only one. So, in that sense, I see what you are saying. Personally, I am excited about how TV is changing; I didn’t realize it wasn’t changing so quickly in Japan.
As for your other point — I don’t know what to make of the social significance of skyscrapers anymore. You think about history — Roman lightouse, Egyptians pyramids, Medieval cathedrals — then, yes, taller seems to coincide with cultural power.
Then again, you have Silicon Valley in California, which is supposed to be the world’s 5 greatest economy, and there are not skyscrapers. I mean, not really. Not this obsession with creating a skyline. There was an article I read somewhere which said that the problem with going to Silicon Valley is that: “There is no there, there.” A city like New York is a throwback because you go and you can find the Empire State Building. Silicon Valley is a different animal. And it made me wonder if the “new city” actually isn’t one which includes tall buildings.
I guess time will tell. Anyway, I thought your comment was interesting.
April 2nd, 2006 at 6:18 am