Yokohama Marine Tower Audio Guide

Yokohama Marine Tower: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Yokohama Marine Tower

   Welcome to Yokohama Marine Tower, known locally as 横浜マリンタワー. It stands in the Yamashita district of Naka Ward, right in front of Yamashita Park, with Yokohama's harbor spread out beside it. Look up and you will see a slim steel tower rising 106 meters above the waterfront. For decades it has been one of the best-known symbols of the city. The tower opened on the fifteenth of January, 1961, as part of the celebrations for the one hundredth anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port. In its first life it was far more than a viewing platform. It was a working lighthouse, and for a time it was listed as the tallest lighthouse in the world. Over the next few minutes we will look at why this tower was built, why its shape is so unusual, and how it fell on hard times and then returned. Take a moment to find a spot where you can see the whole tower, and let's begin.

2. 02

   A Monument for a Port's Hundredth Birthday

   The story begins in 1958, the same year Tokyo Tower was completed. In Yokohama, the approaching hundredth anniversary of the port set people thinking about a lasting monument. The city and a group of private citizens proposed a tower that would look out over the harbor and the town. The site chosen was near Yamashita Park. More than 20 design proposals were considered, and the winner was a design that recalled a lighthouse. That choice fitted the purpose well. The tower was meant to stand for the port itself, and behind it lay the hopes of the city and its people for Yokohama's future as a harbor. The tower opened on the fifteenth of January, 1961, three years after Tokyo Tower. It was built as a steel-frame tower and laid out together with Yamashita Park as one waterfront composition. Its structure rises from a base shaped like a truncated cone. At the bottom there was also a marine science museum, which helped draw large numbers of visitors in the early years.

3. 03

   The Tallest Lighthouse in the World

   Here is the feature that made this tower special. Above the observation floor, at the very top, it carried a real lighthouse. Most towers of the day were simply for looking out. This one also guided ships, and it was long recorded as the tallest lighthouse in the world. Its shape is part of the story too. Towers of that era were mostly square-edged, but this one has 10 sides. That means it looks much the same from any angle you view it. In 1961, when there were few tall buildings nearby, its distinctive outline could be seen from the harbor and from many parts of the city. The lighthouse also changed over the years. In 1989 it was renamed Yokohama Marine Tower Lighthouse, with a red upper section, a white lower section and a lattice-style frame. Management of the lighthouse passed to the city of Yokohama in 2007, and its service as a lighthouse, which had lasted about 50 years, ended in 2008. In 1990 a color lighting system was completed, so after dark the tower became a glowing landmark as well as a daytime one.

4. 04

   Closure, Rescue and Renewal

   Loved as it was, the tower had a hard time as a business. In its early years it drew crowds, and at its peak about 1,050,000 people came in a single year. After that the numbers slipped, and by 2005 they had fallen to about 270,000. The operating company at the time ran into financial trouble, and the tower and the neighboring Hikawa Maru ship closed to visitors on the twenty-fifth of December, 2006. The tower was handed to the city of Yokohama, and Hikawa Maru went to the shipping company Nippon Yusen. The city did not let the tower fade away. It decided to preserve and revive it as one of the projects marking the 100 and fiftieth anniversary of the port's opening. Private operators were chosen through a public call, and the exterior and interior were renewed, with earthquake strengthening as well. The tower reopened on the twenty-third of May, 2009. In 2011 it took part in a collection campaign aiming for 50 tons of bottle caps, and the collection box is still there. One curious event is worth knowing about. Occasionally there is a challenge to climb the 335 steps up to the observation floor, instead of taking the elevator.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Now that you know the story, take another look at the tower from where you stand. See how the 10 sides give it the same slender profile from each side. Think of the lighthouse that once shone from its top, and of the harbor that people in 1961 were celebrating with it. The tower also sits in a district full of harbor history, with Yamashita Park at its foot and the water just across the way. Let your eyes travel from the tower out across the port, and picture how different the skyline looked when this was one of the tallest structures around. If you go up, ask yourself what you can pick out from above that you cannot see from the ground. And when you come back down, notice how the tower looks different again, in daylight or after the evening lights come on.