Tsūtenkaku

photo by Sakai Yayoi · CC0

photo by Sakai Yayoi · CC0

At the top, you rub the soles of the Billiken statue's feet for luck.

The tower stands in the middle of Shinsekai and can be seen from the end of every street. At the top, on the golden observation deck, sits Billiken with his legs dangling: everyone who goes up runs a hand under his feet. From the third floor there is also a sixty-metre slide that winds round the lift shaft and finishes below street level in about ten seconds.

The current tower is the second one and dates from 1956; including the lightning rod it reaches 108 metres. The golden observation deck is at 87.5 metres, the open-air one above it at 94.5. Billiken is a good-luck idol that arrived from the United States in the early twentieth century and was adopted by the neighbourhood.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–21:45; last entry at 21:15 for the regular observation deck, at 21:35 for the open-air one. An adult ticket costs 1,500 yen, 800 for children aged 5 to 14; the slide is paid for separately. Three minutes' walk from Ebisuchō Station on the Sakaisuji line, six from Shin-Imamiya on the Loop Line.

🚉 Dobutsuen-mae · 8 min walk

Sources: tsutenkaku.co.jp · tsutenkaku.co.jp · osaka-info.jp

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