- published: 24 Feb 2016
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Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー, Tōkyō Sukaitsurī?) is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world after Burj Khalifa (829.84 m/2,723 ft).
Led by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters headed by NHK, the tower project forms the centrepiece of a large commercial development equidistant from Tokyo Skytree and Oshiage train stations, 7 km (4.3 mi) north-east of Tokyo station. One of its main purposes is to relay television and radio broadcast signals; Tokyo's current facility, Tokyo Tower with a height of 333 m (1,093 ft), no longer gives complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by many high-rise buildings. The project was completed on 29 February 2012, with the tower opening to the public on 22 May 2012.
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō?, "Eastern Capital") [toːkʲoː], English /ˈtoʊki.oʊ/; officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of the world. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu?) and the city of Tokyo (東京市, Tōkyō-shi?).
The Tokyo Metropolitan government administers the 23 special wards of Tokyo (each governed as a city), which cover the area that was the city of Tokyo, as well as 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 8 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 35 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy with a GDP of US$1.479 trillion at purchasing power parity in 2008, ahead of New York City metropolitan area, which ranks second on the list. The city hosts 47 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest amount of any city.