Tokyo Tocho

Tokyo Tocho
2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
Tokyo, Japan
Phone: 03/5321-1111

(Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office). Work on architect Kenzo Tange's
grandiose city hall complex, which now dominates the western Shinjuku
skyline, began in 1988 and was completed in 1991. Built at a cost of •157
billion, it was clearly meant to remind observers that Tokyo's annual budget is
bigger than that of the average developing country. The complex consists of a
main office building, an annex, the Metropolitan Assembly building, and a
huge central courtyard, often the venue of open-air concerts and exhibitions.
The design has inspired a passionate controversy: Tokyoites either love it or
hate it. It's been called everything from a "fitting tribute" to a "forbidding castle."
The main building soars 48 stories, splitting on the 33rd floor into two towers.
On a clear day, from the observation decks on the 45th floors of both towers,
you can see all the way to Mt. Fuji and to the Boso Peninsula in Chiba
Prefecture. Several other skyscrapers in the area have free observation floors -- among them the
Shinjuku Center Building, the Shinjuku Nomura Building, and the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building -- but
city hall is the best of the lot. The Metropolitan Government Web site, incidentally, is an excellent
source of information on sightseeing and current events in Tokyo. www.metro.tokyo.jp. COST: Free.
North and south decks both open daily 9:30-9:30. Subway: Marunouchi and Toei Shinjuku subway
lines; JR; Keio Shin-sen and Teito private rail lines: Shinjuku Eki (Nishi-guchi/West Exit). (Source:
Fodors)