David Esteban
El Tsūtenkaku
The Tsutenkaku is one of the symbols of the Japanese city of Osaka. Its name means something like "the tower that touches the sky" because though its 103 meters does not draw a lot of attention today compared with other places in Japan, like the Tokyo Tower, when it was built in 1912, it was fairly popular nationwide and many people came to its observation deck at a little over 90 metres. When erected, it was part of an amusement park and was connected by a kind of cable car that ran to the observation deck. When the amusement park closed it was decided that the tower would remain as an observatory for the city.
However, its metal was needed during WWII so it was dismantled in 1943. The tower was rebuilt in the 50's and Hitachi acquired some publicity rights, which he still holds. Since then the neon signs of this ancient tower have never stopped advertising the brand, except between 1974 and 1976, when the tower was turned off during the oil crisis. Today it is a symbol of Osaka, despite not being aesthetically spectacular and being situated in a quite humble neighbourhood of the city.
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