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18-601: Kyoto Tower and Kyoto Station are major landmarks in Shimogyō-ku. Shijō Street on the northern edge of the area, especially around the Shijō Kawaramachi intersection, is the busiest shopping district in the city. Kyoto Station has an extensive shopping center, including a department store in the station building, and the underground Porta mall. Shimogyō-ku has a population of 82,784 and an area of 6.78 km. Three rivers, Horikawa, Kamogawa and Takasegawa pass through

36-467: A bookstore, and a dentist's office. In the basement of the building, there is a spa. Floors 5–9 are devoted to the 160-room, three-star Kyoto Tower Hotel. Atop the building and surrounding the tower is the circular, three-floor restaurant named Sky Lounge "空" KUU. Adaptations such as a stair lift and ramps have been added to make the observation deck wheelchair accessible. Alex Kerr (Japanologist) Alex Kerr (born June 16, 1952)

54-502: A liveable state, including re-thatching the kayabuki roof using traditional materials. The house was given the name Chiiori , or "House of the Flute". The restoration of Chiiori began a project by Kerr and others to preserve Japan's vanishing arts, culture and traditional lifestyle. In 2007, Kerr decided to become more personally involved in Iya. He expanded and reorganized the board of directors of

72-423: A thickness of 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in). The sheets were then welded together and painted white. The intended overall effect was for the tower to resemble a Japanese candle . Designed by modernist architect, Mamoru Yamada with the expert advice of Makoto Tanahashi, a doctor of engineering at Kyoto University , Kyoto Tower was built to withstand the forces of both earthquakes and typhoons . The head of

90-417: A tourist attraction has diminished. By 1999, observation deck ticket sales dropped to less than 400,000 a year, or about 1,100 a day. Kyoto Tower has been the subject of controversy since it was in its planning phase. Public opposition not only stemmed from the tower's ¥ 380 million ($ 1.056 million in 1963) price tag, but also from the fact that many believed the needle-shaped spire was too modern looking for

108-706: Is an American writer and Japanologist . Originally from the Bethesda area in Montgomery County, Maryland , Kerr's father, a naval officer, was posted in Yokohama from 1964 to 1966. Kerr returned to the states and studied Japanese Studies at Yale University . After studying Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar , Kerr moved back to Japan full-time in 1977. He lived in Kameoka , near Kyoto , working with

126-491: Is split into two distinct structures. The primary structure is the steel spire that begins on the roof of the building below. Tourists may buy tickets and ascend one of the tower's nine elevators to visit the 100-metre (330 ft)-high, 500-person-capacity observation deck . This area is lined with game machines and free telescopes and provides a 360-degree view of the city. From here, nearly all of Kyoto can be seen. The mountains of Higashiyama and Arashiyama are visible on

144-467: Is the tallest structure in Kyoto with its observation deck at 100 metres (328 ft) and its spire at 131 metres (430 ft). The 800-ton tower stands atop a 9-story building, which houses a 3-star hotel and several stores. The entire complex stands opposite Kyōto Station . Kyoto Tower was proposed in the early 1960s, and it was planned to be constructed and completed in time to correspond with

162-465: The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo . Construction began in 1963 on the former site of Kyoto's central post office and was completed near the end of 1964. Unlike many other towers (such as Tokyo Tower ) that are constructed using metal lattice frames, Kyoto Tower's interior structure consists of many steel rings stacked on top of each other. The structure was then covered with lightweight steel sheets with

180-573: The Oomoto Foundation, a Shintō organisation devoted to the practise and teaching of traditional Japanese arts. An expert on Japanese culture and art, he frequently writes and lectures in Japanese. Through his experiences in Japan, as related in his books, he has become an avid art collector and patron of Japan's traditional theatre and other arts. He also worked in business, working for Trammell Crow in

198-500: The 1980s. Kerr currently has several residences. He lives in Bangkok , Thailand for half of the year, and Kyoto for the other half, visiting and staying at Chiiori as well. In the early 1970s, Kerr purchased a crumbling, abandoned, two-hundred-year-old Japanese house in the Iya Valley , a remote mountainous area of Tokushima prefecture on the island of Shikoku . He restored the house to

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216-474: The Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in Japan in 1994 for this work. His later work Dogs and Demons (2002) addressed the same issues of degradation and loss of native culture in the wake of Modernization/Westernization. In Another Kyoto (2016), Kerr and co-author Kathy Arlyn Sokol draw on decades of living in Kyoto and reflect on the architecture of

234-466: The ancient capital. The construction regulations in Kyoto that restrict a building's maximum height increase the sense of proportion between the tower and the low machiya and ferroconcrete apartment blocks below. These municipal regulations have ensured that the tower maintains its status as the tallest man-made structure in the city since its construction. Today, reaction to Kyoto Tower remains divided. The modern, glass and steel Kyoto Station and

252-446: The east and west sides respectively, while Kitayama can be seen to the north. On a clear day, some buildings in Osaka are visible to the south. The second structure that completely supports the 800-ton tower and gives it its first 30.8 meters of height is a nine-story building. The first four floors of the building house several commercial areas, including a souvenir shop, a 100 yen shop ,

270-411: The imposing steel tower directly across the street contrast with ideas of Kyoto as a traditional city. Japanologist Alex Kerr has called the tower "a stake through the heart" of Kyoto. While some disapprove of the tower, many locals have welcomed station and tower, believing them to help add a touch of modernity to the city to ensure that it does not become foreign to the rest of new Japan. Kyoto Tower

288-477: The project, and closed the house for a few months for renovations. It reopened in November 2007. In his book Lost Japan (1993), he describes what he saw as the sorry modern state of the country in which he has spent more than 35 years of his life. It was originally written and published in Japanese as Utsukushiki Nihon no Zanzō (美しき日本の残像, Last Glimpse of Beautiful Japan ). He was the first foreigner to be awarded

306-463: The tower's business division, Tsuyoshi Tamura, claims it can withstand winds of up to 201 mph (90 m/s) and survive an earthquake of far greater magnitude than that of the Kobe or Tokyo earthquakes . The tower was first opened to the public on December 28, 1964. Within its first year of opening, 1 million people visited the tower's observation deck. Throughout the years, the tower's draw as

324-521: The ward. Lycée français international de Kyoto , a French international school, is in Shimogyô-ku. [REDACTED] Media related to Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto at Wikimedia Commons This Kyoto Prefecture location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kyoto Tower Kyoto Tower ( 京都タワー , Kyōto-tawā ) is an observation tower located in Kyoto , Japan . The steel tower

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