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By day, Tokyo Tower is a red-and-white steel frame that looks a little dated next to the glass towers around it. Once the sun goes down, it becomes the most photographed thing in central Tokyo. Seeing Tokyo Tower at night is worth planning around, because the lighting isn’t the same every evening. The color depends on the season, a special LED display only runs two nights a week, and the whole tower flashes white for two minutes at the top of every hour.
This guide covers how the light-up works, when to go, what the Main Deck and Top Deck cost after dark, and the best places to see the tower from the outside. Every price, time and schedule below comes from Tokyo Tower’s official website as of October 2026.
Contents
- Why Tokyo Tower at Night Beats a Daytime Visit
- How the Tokyo Tower Light-Up Works
- Tokyo Tower at Night From the Inside: Main Deck vs Top Deck
- Best Time to Visit Tokyo Tower at Night
- Where to See Tokyo Tower Lit Up From Outside
- Getting to Tokyo Tower
- Practical Tips for a Night Visit
- Make a Night of It
- Frequently Asked Questions About Tokyo Tower at Night
- What do you do in Tokyo After 10?Join our Tokyo Nightlife Private Tour
- Skip the Guesswork: See Tokyo After Dark With a Local
- About the Author
Why Tokyo Tower at Night Beats a Daytime Visit
The tower is 333 meters tall and has two observation levels: the Main Deck at 150m and the Top Deck at 250m. In daylight, the view from either one is a wide gray sprawl of rooftops. After dark, the same sprawl turns into a grid of lit streets, office windows and expressways, and the tower itself becomes part of the show.
There’s also a practical reason. The observation decks stay open until 11pm, much later than most Tokyo attractions. That makes Tokyo Tower an easy first stop before dinner or drinks in Roppongi, Azabu-Juban or Hamamatsucho, rather than something you have to fit into a busy sightseeing day.
How the Tokyo Tower Light-Up Works
Tokyo Tower uses two lighting systems. Knowing the difference tells you what you’ll actually see on the night you go.
Landmark Light: White in Summer, Orange in Winter
The Landmark Light is the standard illumination: 180 lights that pick out the shape of the tower from below. It has two versions.
- Summer version: silver-white metal halide lamps, for a cool, pale look. It switches on from the night of Tanabata, July 7, every year.
- Winter version: warm orange high-pressure sodium lamps. It switches on from early October every year.
If you’re visiting this month, you’re arriving just as the tower changes back to its warm orange winter look, the color most people picture when they think of Tokyo Tower at night. It stays that way until the following July.
Infinity Diamond Veil: Mondays and Thursdays, 8pm to 10pm
The second system is the Infinity Diamond Veil, which first lit up in October 2019. It uses 268 LED lights mounted on 17 levels of the tower, and each light can change independently, so the tower can display patterns and gradients rather than a single flat color.
Its regular schedule is short. It runs every Monday and Thursday from 20:00 to 22:00, in a color assigned to each month. During those two hours, two designs alternate every 30 minutes, and at each switch the whole tower is wrapped in white light that blinks slowly for four minutes. The Diamond Veil is also used for special light-ups tied to events and promotions, so it can appear on other nights too.
Here are the twelve monthly colors:
| Month | Color name |
|---|---|
| January | Reborn Yellow |
| February | Lovely Red |
| March | Cherry Pink |
| April | Fresh Green |
| May | Sky Blue |
| June | Wisteria Violet |
| July | Sea Blue |
| August | Mountain Green |
| September | Autumn Purple |
| October | Sunset Orange |
| November | Maple Red |
| December | Forever Green |
The Hourly White Sparkle
From sunset until midnight, the tower runs a two-minute “pure white sparkle” at the top of every hour. It’s the most reliable light show of Tokyo Tower at night: two rings of light, the Diamond Tiara above the Top Deck and the Diamond Choker above the Main Deck, glow pure white for those two minutes. If you’re on the street with a camera at 8:59pm, you’ll catch it.
Check Tonight’s Lighting Before You Go
Special light-ups for events, charities and anniversaries can replace the regular schedule, and the hourly sparkle may not run when they do. The tower publishes a day-by-day calendar on its official light-up page, and notes that the schedule can change at short notice. A quick look before you leave the hotel saves you from arriving on a Thursday expecting Sunset Orange and finding a special color instead.
Tokyo Tower at Night From the Inside: Main Deck vs Top Deck
Seeing the tower lit up is one experience. Looking out from it is another. Both observation decks are open late, but they’re priced and run differently.
Main Deck (150m)
The Main Deck is open 9:00 to 23:00, with last entry at 22:30. The tower warns that last entry can be moved earlier when it’s crowded, so don’t plan to walk up at 10:29pm on a Saturday.
Tickets cost:
- Adults: ¥1,500
- High school students: ¥1,200
- Elementary and junior high students: ¥900
- Children aged 4 and over: ¥600
The Main Deck has two floors. On the lower floor you’ll find the Skywalk Window, a glass panel in the floor that lets you look straight down the tower, plus Cafe La Tour and Club333. The upper floor has the official shop, a small shrine called Tower Daijingu, and the Top Deck Gate, where you change elevators if you’re going higher.
Top Deck Tour (250m)
The Top Deck Tour covers both the Main Deck and the Top Deck. It runs 9:00 to 22:45, with last entry at 22:15. Booking online is ¥200 cheaper than paying at the counter:
| Ticket | Online | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | ¥3,300 | ¥3,500 |
| High school student | ¥3,100 | ¥3,300 |
| Elementary / junior high | ¥2,100 | ¥2,300 |
| Child (4+) | ¥1,500 | ¥1,700 |
The Top Deck can close in bad weather, so if the forecast looks rough, the Main Deck is the safer choice.
TOKYO DIAMOND TOUR
The premium option adds a lounge to both decks. It costs ¥7,000 for adults and departs on the hour from 12:00 to 18:00. The 18:00 departure is the latest, and in autumn and winter it gets you to 250m after the sun has gone down.
Which Ticket Makes Sense at Night?
If you want the night view and not much else, the Main Deck is half the price and has the later last entry. The Top Deck is worth the extra money if you care about photographs: it’s 100 meters higher, and you’ll be looking down on the Main Deck crowd as well as the city. Either way, buy the Top Deck online. It saves money, and the counter queue in the early evening can eat into the time you came for.
Best Time to Visit Tokyo Tower at Night
There’s no single best time to see Tokyo Tower at night, but a few windows are worth aiming for.
- Just before sunset. Get to the Main Deck while it’s still light and stay as the city switches on. In autumn and winter the sun sets early, so this fits easily before dinner.
- Monday or Thursday, 20:00 to 22:00. This is the only regular window for the Infinity Diamond Veil. Watch it from the ground; you can’t see the tower’s own lights well from inside it.
- On the hour. Line up your photos for the two-minute white sparkle at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm and so on.
- Before 20:00 if you want to walk down. The open-air staircase from the Main Deck back to ground level is open daily from 9:00 to 20:00, weather permitting. Walking down it just after dusk is one of the more memorable ways to leave. The upward staircase (about 600 steps) only opens on weekends and holidays until 16:00, so it isn’t an option at night.
Weekend evenings are the busiest. If you can choose, a weekday visit is calmer, and a Monday or Thursday gets you the Diamond Veil as well.
Where to See Tokyo Tower Lit Up From Outside
Half the appeal of Tokyo Tower at night is seeing it in the skyline, so plan at least one stop outside the tower.
Shiba Park. The park wraps around the base of the tower and gives you open lawns and paths with the tower filling the frame. It’s free and a few minutes’ walk from the entrance.
Zojoji Temple. This large Buddhist temple sits right next to Shiba Park, and the shot of its main hall with the orange tower rising behind it is the classic Tokyo contrast of old and new. The grounds are quiet after dark, so keep your voice down.
Sakurada-dori Avenue. Walk along this main road south of the tower and you’ll get a long, straight view with traffic trails in the foreground. Bring a small tripod or rest your phone on a railing for longer exposures.
Roppongi Hills. The observation deck at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower is often recommended as the best place to photograph Tokyo Tower, because you see it side-on at eye level with the city spread out behind it. Many visitors pair this with a night out; our Roppongi nightlife guide covers what’s around the hill once you’re done.
A bar with a view. If you’d rather have a drink than a tripod, several hotel and rooftop bars in Minato have the tower in their windows. Our roundup of rooftop bars with a Tokyo night view is a good place to start.
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Getting to Tokyo Tower
The tower’s address is 4-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Several subway stations are within walking distance:
| Station (line) | Exit | Walk |
|---|---|---|
| Akabanebashi (Oedo Line) | Akabanebashi exit | 5 min |
| Onarimon (Mita Line) | A1 | 6 min |
| Kamiyacho (Hibiya Line) | 1 | 7 min |
| Shibakoen (Mita Line) | A4 | 10 min |
| Daimon (Asakusa Line) | A6 | 10 min |
| Hamamatsucho (JR) | North exit | 15 min |
From Tokyo Station, Tokyu Bus route 東98 runs from the Marunouchi South exit to the Tokyo Tower stop in about 20 minutes, then it’s a two-minute walk. If you’re driving, the tower has its own parking at ¥800 for the first hour and ¥400 for each extra 30 minutes, open until 23:00.
Coming back late, remember that the decks close around the time Tokyo’s trains start to wind down. If you plan to go on somewhere after 11pm, check our guide to Tokyo’s last train times so you aren’t stranded.
Practical Tips for a Night Visit
- Check the weather. Low cloud can hide the Top Deck view completely. The Top Deck Tour can also close in bad weather.
- Bring a lens cloth. The deck windows reflect interior light at night. Press your phone close to the glass, or cup your hand around the lens, to cut the glare.
- Eat after, not before. The area right around the tower is quiet at night. Roppongi and Hamamatsucho have far more choice once you come down.
- Don’t count on the last-entry time. Officially it’s 22:30 for the Main Deck and 22:15 for the Top Deck, but it can be moved earlier on busy nights.
Make a Night of It
Tokyo Tower at night makes a good opening act, but it’s only the start of what Tokyo does after dark. If you’re building an evening around views and lights, our list of Tokyo night sightseeing spots has more places to add, from illuminated temples to late-night shopping streets.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tokyo Tower at Night
What time does Tokyo Tower light up? The lights come on at sunset. The hourly two-minute white sparkle runs on the hour from sunset until midnight, unless a special light-up replaces it.
What color is Tokyo Tower at night? From early October to early July it’s warm orange (winter Landmark Light). From July 7 it switches to silver-white (summer Landmark Light). On Monday and Thursday evenings from 20:00 to 22:00, the Infinity Diamond Veil shows that month’s color, such as Sunset Orange in October.
How late is Tokyo Tower open? The Main Deck closes at 23:00 (last entry 22:30). The Top Deck Tour closes at 22:45 (last entry 22:15).
Is the Top Deck worth it at night? If photography matters to you, yes. It’s 100 meters higher than the Main Deck. If you just want to see the city lights, the Main Deck at ¥1,500 is the better value.
Can I see the light-up from inside the tower? Not really. You’re standing inside the structure that’s lit. To see the Diamond Veil or the orange glow, watch from Shiba Park, Zojoji or a nearby observation deck.
What do you do in Tokyo After 10?
Join our Tokyo Nightlife Private Tour
You deserve better than overpriced bars and missed opportunities. We’re here for you.
Skip the Guesswork: See Tokyo After Dark With a Local
Tokyo Tower is easy to do on your own. The harder part comes afterwards, when the decks close and you’re deciding where to go next in a city where the best bars sit on the fifth floor of buildings with no English signs. If you’d like someone who lives here to take you from the lights to the places locals actually drink, take a look at our Tokyo After 10 nightlife private tour. Your guide handles the walking, the ordering and the “is this place OK for foreigners?” questions, so you can enjoy the night.
