Tsutenkaku Tower

Tsutenkaku Tower is a 108-meter observation tower in the Shinsekai district of southern Osaka, counting its lightning rod. The current tower opened in 1956 on the site of an earlier one from 1912. Its decks look out over central Osaka, and the golden deck holds the Billiken statue that visitors touch for luck. General admission costs 1,500 yen for adults.

Tsutenkaku tickets and timed entry

• Adults (15 and over): 1,500 yen

• Children (5 to 14): 800 yen

• December 30 to January 3: 1,800 yen for adults and 900 yen for children

Entry runs on timed slots. You choose an entry time when you buy, and online tickets are the easiest way to avoid waiting at the counter. Evening slots can sell out, so book ahead if you want night views. Holders of the Osaka Amazing Pass and similar passes book their time slot at the ticket counter on the day. If you prefer to buy before you travel, the Tsutenkaku observation deck ticket covers general entry.

Tickets cannot be refunded, and there is no re-entry once you leave. Check the tower's visitor information page for the latest prices and slot rules.

What to see inside Tsutenkaku

• Light deck (4F, 84 m): an indoor deck that turns into a disco-style space with colored lighting and a mirror ball at night

• Golden deck (5F, 87.5 m): a gold-decorated deck that is home to the third-generation Billiken

• Tenbo Paradise (94.5 m): an open-air deck at the very top, reached by stairs, sold only as a set with the general deck

• TIP THE TSUTENKAKU (92.5 m): a 5.4-meter platform that juts out from the tower with a glass floor at its tip

• Top Floor (3F): a diorama and old photos of Shinsekai as it looked about 100 years ago

Billiken is a smiling, pointy-headed figure of good fortune. Rubbing the soles of his outstretched feet is said to bring luck, and the current statue took over the job in 2012. The outdoor decks close without notice in rain, strong wind or fog. They also turn away visitors who use wheelchairs, because of the stairs.

Tower Slider and Dive & Walk

Tsutenkaku has two activities with their own tickets, on top of deck admission. The Tower Slider is an enclosed spiral slide inside the tower, and riders leave bags and phones in free lockers first. It costs 1,100 yen for ages 15 to 65 and 600 yen for children aged 7 to 14, with a minimum height of 120 cm.

Dive & Walk has you walk the rim of a roof 26 meters up on a harness, then drop about 14 meters from roughly 40 meters up onto the lower deck. It costs 3,000 yen for adults and 2,000 yen for children aged 9 to 14, or 1,500 yen and 1,000 yen for the Walk only.

History of Tsutenkaku

The first Tsutenkaku opened in 1912 with the Luna Park amusement grounds, on land used for the 1903 National Industrial Exhibition. It looked like the Arc de Triomphe with the top half of the Eiffel Tower set on it. At 75 meters it was the tallest structure in Japan at the time. In 1943 a fire in the cinema at its base damaged the tower, and it was taken down.

Local residents raised money to rebuild it, and the present tower opened in 1956. It was designed by Tachu Naito, the engineer behind Tokyo Tower. The name means a tall building that reaches the heavens. For a more personal take on the tower, read these reasons to go up Tsutenkaku.

How to get to Tsutenkaku Tower

• Ebisucho Station (Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line): Exit 3, about a 3-minute walk

• Ebisucho Station (Hankai Tramway): about a 3-minute walk

• Dobutsuen-mae Station (Osaka Metro Midosuji Line): Exit 1, about a 6-minute walk

• Shin-Imamiya Station (JR Osaka Loop Line): east exit on the Tsutenkaku side, about a 6-minute walk

• Shin-Imamiya Station (Nankai Line): west exit, about a 10-minute walk

The tower has no parking. It stands in the middle of Shinsekai's kushikatsu streets, so a meal in the district fits easily before or after the deck.

The tower is also an Osaka stop on the 10-day Golden Route itinerary from Tokyo through Kyoto.