Tokyo Sky Tree: The Tallest Tower In The World

Tourist bosses in the country hope the Tokyo Sky Tree will prove a draw for foreign visitors, whose numbers plummeted in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami disaster last year and the nuclear crisis it sparked. The Tokyo Sky Tree tops the 600-metre Canton Tower in China's Guangzhou and the 553-metre CN Tower in downtown Toronto.

It is the world's second-tallest manmade structure, beaten only by the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Tokyo Sky Tree overshadows landmarks in the capital's upscale western parts, including the 333-metre Tokyo Tower, which was built in 1958 and became a byword in Japan for the country's rapid post-war growth.