Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER

The Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER, long known simply as the Nagoya TV Tower, is the defining landmark of central Nagoya and a genuine piece of national history. Completed in 1954, it was the first full-scale broadcasting tower built in Japan, predating even the more famous Tokyo Tower, and it holds the distinction of being the oldest such tower still standing in the country. Designed by Tachu Naito, the engineer behind several of Japan's iconic towers, it rises 180 metres above the greenery of Hisaya-odori Park in the Sakae district.

For decades the tower served its original broadcasting purpose, but with the switch to digital transmission it was reborn as a cultural landmark. A major renovation completed in 2020 restored and modernised the structure, adding a design hotel on its lower floors, cafes and shops, and reopening the observation decks to a new generation of visitors. In 2022 it was designated an Important Cultural Property, a rare honour for a postwar structure, cementing its status as a monument to Japan's rapid postwar recovery and technological confidence.

The tower offers two viewing levels. The enclosed Sky Deck at around 90 metres gives sweeping panoramas of the Nagoya cityscape through large windows, while the open-air Sky Balcony one level up lets you feel the breeze and take in unobstructed views of the surrounding streets, the distant mountains and, on clear days, a vast sweep of the Nobi plain. From this height the geometry of Nagoya's grid-planned castle town becomes beautifully clear, with the long green ribbon of Hisaya-odori Park stretching away below.

The visiting experience is at its best around dusk. Arriving in late afternoon lets you watch the city glow gold in the setting sun and then blaze into light as evening falls, and the illuminated Sakae district, threaded with the neon of its department stores and entertainment venues, makes a memorable night view. The tower itself is dramatically floodlit after dark, its lattice of steel changing colour for seasons and special events, and it has become a favourite subject for photographers shooting from the park and the adjacent Oasis 21.

The setting adds to the appeal. The tower stands within the redeveloped Hisaya-odori Park, a long, elegant strip of lawns, cafes, shops and water features that runs through the centre of Sakae, and it sits beside the glowing glass roof of Oasis 21 and the shopping and nightlife of the district. This makes it easy to combine a trip up the tower with dining, shopping and a stroll through central Nagoya's most animated quarter.

Getting there is effortless. Sakae Station, an interchange of the Higashiyama and Meijo subway lines, is about three minutes' walk away, and the Hisaya-odori subway station is even closer. The tower and its facilities are fully accessible, with lifts serving the observation decks.

For travellers seeking a first orientation over Nagoya, a romantic night view, or a connection to Japan's postwar story of reinvention, the MIRAI TOWER delivers on every count. It is the city's signature silhouette, and rising into it at sunset is one of the classic Nagoya experiences.