I have many points in this article, but I wanted to begin with something I never expected. Japan implies Cherry blossoms, but I was surprised to see Cherry blossoms nearby the Eiffel Tower Garden. Cultures share and if Tokyo Tower inspiration comes from Eiffel, so is the Cherry blossom inspiration from Japan evident in France. The Trocadéro Gardens across the Seine have cherry trees lining the paths, with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop. The City of Paris itself lists Trocadéro as a cherry-blossom location and specifically highlights the Eiffel Tower backdrop. My company, Adobe's office is right there in Trocadero and I enjoyed this view for four days that I was there.

2.Tokyo Tower Built on Cemetry Grounds!!

Tokyo Tower was built ont he cemetry grounds of the Zojoji Temple. The cemetry grounds are now restricted to some parts around the tower and the temple, but in a limited form. The official Eiffel Tower history says the Champ de Mars was originally established as a military exercise ground in front of the École Militaire. By the late 19th century it had become a major venue for Paris's Universal Expositions. The Eiffel Tower was constructed there as the monumental entrance/gateway to the 1889 World's Fair. Very different backgrounds, but both ushered in "modern" icons for their respective cities. 

3. Change meets resistance : Eiffel Tower experienced it, Tokyo Tower not so much

There is documented resistance for Eiffel Tower before it becoame an icon. 

The English translation of French newspaper Le Temps on February 14, 1887 is as below

We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.

Tokyo Tower came up after the commercial success of the Eiffel Tower to serve as a communications tower it was not subject to this type of resistance. To be very honest, I can empathize with the artists thinking of these structures as monstrous, go near them and they really are. See above

4. SOMETHING ALIVE : Traffic Trails around the Towers

There is an extra dimension to photographs of the two towers taken after dark, courtesy of the roads that run by them. In Tokyo, one can capture the head and tail lights at Akabanebashi intersection flowing into the frame of a shot of the tower. The Pont d’Iéna plays a comparable role for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. With a long exposure, the vehicles making their way across the bridge in front of the tower are rendered as ribbons of light. For the Eiffel, a bridge over the Seine, for Tokyo Tower a bustling street corner.The flow of cars ensures the structures are seen not as mere monuments but as something alive with the city around them.

5. TOWERING Romance!

This blog article would feel incomplete without the word “romance”. Today, Tokyo Tower and the Eiffel Tower have become symbols of romance in their own ways. Tokyo Tower was never built for this. In Japan, public display of affection is generally restrained, BUT, there is a big change recently. The 2024 Japanese TV drama Tokyo Tower, based on Kaori Ekuni’s romance novel. The story is about a young university student who falls in love with an older married woman (even in todays day this pairing becomes a story, if we do role reversals, no one would even blink) , in which there is a kissing scene with Tokyo Tower in the background. A tower built to transmit television signals has somehow ended up transmitting a very different kind of message. Why humans do that in front of steel structures is beyond me. 😅 😅

The Eiffel Tower has had a much longer romance story. It was built for the 1889 World's Fair, an engineering achievement than a symbol of love. But today, try standing near the Eiffel Tower and watch the tourists. Couples are taking photographs, holding each other, proposing, kissing and trying to capture that one picture with the tower behind them. I also wanted to show this side of the two towers in this article, but it is probably not a good idea to photograph people in the middle of their personal romantic moments just to make a blog post. So I had to use an AI rendition in the above image. It may not be a real couple, but the idea behind it is very real. 

6. Panoramic Views of the Two Towers

Just for the records sake, I am writing this blog sitting in Paris at night in my hotel opposite the Eiffel Tower on a business visit. I see it as I write this… a panoramic view, similar to the Tokyo Tower taken at Shiba Koen Garden.

7. Distance Shots of Eiffel Tower and Tokyo Tower

Both towers look awesome from a distance too, in case of Paris, unfortunately the Eiffel feels lonely since it is the lone tall structure while Tokyo Tower got the Roppongi Hills skyscraper in 2004 and Tokyo Skytree in 2012 to keep company. Just some trivia, 

Since Tokyo Tower is approximately half in height of Tokyo Skytree we went to Ebisu Garden Observatory in Tokyo, which is twice the distance from Skytree as it is from Tokyo Tower. Meaning, by theory of Appolonius Circle both towers should appear of same height. How’s that for some geometric context to try out if you are in Tokyo

If you want to try this on Eiffel Tower, try doing with Egypt’s Luxor Obelisk with the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

8. Cruise Trails at the Eiffel Tower and Tokyo Tower

The beauty of Eiffel Tower is amplified with the surrounding location. It is on the banks of a river where cruises pass by leaving a trail of light in my camera. On the other hand, Tokyo Tower does not have water mass around it and we had to go to the Rainbow Bridge from where we could take come trails of ships passing by in the Tokyo Bay area.

9. Temporary Structures to Permanent Identity

The location of both the towers are central locations of the respective cities and have tours where you can visit the top of the towers with the exception that Eiffel has stairs for climbing too! while Tokyo Tower only has an elevator with no stair access. The Eiffel Tower was granted a 20-year concession and was supposed to be dismantled in 1909. Tokyo Tower was also conceived primarily as infrastructure rather than as a permanent monument. Its role was to consolidate television transmission. Yet today, imagine Paris without Eiffel Tower or Tokyo without Tokyo Tower. 😂

Contrasted the towers with other attractions in the towns. Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo and Egypt’s Luxor Obelisk with the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

10. Size, Does it Matter?

Both, the original and the inspired have a unique identity of their own and are serving their cities in their own way. Both have been able to claim the emotional space of the citizens in the cities where they are built. But there were aspirations of their builders in terms of the height.

Eiffel Tower was built to be the world's tallest structure.

Tokyo Tower was built to be taller than Eiffel Tower.

Net-Net

Paris: “We built the tallest tower.”
Tokyo: “Nice. We added 33 metres.”

Don't know if that additional 33 means anything since most structures around the world today have already outdone these two. 

11. Reflections of the Eiffel and Tokyo Towers

Eiffel on the other hand has no local competition and stands as one of the most popular tourism spot continuing to serve Paris, although Tokyo Tower with over 150 million visitors is not one to be left behind either. Enough of reflections on the two towers? See some real reflections of the two towers. Eiffel in the waters around and Tokyo Tower in a Family Mart Convenience Store glass window.

So How do I end this story? : 

By predicting the end, ofcourse.

Tokyo Tower, built in 1958, barely had time to get its paint dry before movie studio executives realized its delicate lattice frame made a spectacular crunching sound under heavy rubber feet. Over the decades, it has been aggressively sat on by Mothra while building a silk cocoon, snapped in half by King Ghidorah’s radioactive jet wash, shoved over by Gamera, and used as a giant jungle gym for a high-stakes climbing contest between King Kong and his mechanical clone, Mechani-Kong. Across the ocean, the Eiffel Tower hasn't fared much better, it was famously snapped in two by Gorosaurus in 1968's Destroy All Monsters. It seems that no matter which continent a 200-foot lizard lands on, the local radio architecture is doomed to be collateral damage in the name of kaiju urban planning. I hope that day never comes and the towers continue to inspire generations!