There's a big, orange tower just outside of Shibuya known as Carrot Tower, because it's orange and it's a tower. I guess the owners could have called it something else, but that would have crushed the spirit of the child that actually named it in a contest. Yep, there was a contest for children to name the tower and Carrot won!
Carrot tower is a 26 story high rise in Sangen-jaya, aka Sancha, Setagay-ku about 8minutes from Shibuya by train.
The main attraction of the tower is it's free observation deck on the 26th floor that offers amazing views of metro Tokyo. But before we enjoy those views I'll take you street side to some of my old stomping grounds as I lived just up the road from Sancha in Shimokitazawa 20 years ago.
Sancha is a youthful college town that isn't as well know as it's big neighbor Shibuya, but has plenty to do never the less.
For instance the iconic Family Mart with King Kong rescuing a schoolgirl is a fun sightseeing spot.
I don't know when it was built or why, but it was there 20 years ago when I would walk by it occasionally.
As with just about every square block in Tokyo there are never ending places to eat at, like Taco Yote.
Most places are beautifully designed.
If you're into walking there is a path that begins in Sancha and wanders for miles along the Meguro river, which I always walk when I am in the area.
It's definitely worth walking from Sancha to Naka Meguro along this path. I wrote about part of it here a few months back @rt395/hanami-sakura-in-meguro-tokyo
A main highway, Route 246, also runs through Sancha.
It's one of the main highways through Tokyo and can either be an eyesore or something cool and unique to take pictures of.
One thing is for sure, people are always driving their best cars on this road, like this convertible Mustang.
And then there's the bar district which I will write about another time because it's amazing and deserves it's own post.
Now, let's go up to Carrot Tower's observation deck and get some nice views of the city.
This is the lounge space with a cafe on the observation floor.
There is plenty of seating outside of the cafe for people to take a break from whatever.
And then the awe begins.
Looking north towards Shinjuku.
Looking west towards where I live out by the mountains.
Another view looking west and a tad south. Mt. Fuji can also be seen on a clear day.
South. It's cool you can see the taller buildings follow route 246.
Another view south, but the glare on the window was really bad. Kawasaki and Musashi Kosugi are visible.
Looking south east towards Shinagawa.
Unfortunately there are no public easterly facing banks of windows as that area is a private event hall.
That concludes Carrot Tower. As I mentioned it's free to go up to the deck and it's the only large tower in Sancha so it's very easy to find.
If you are interested in other observation decks around Tokyo here are some of my other posts about observation deck views of the city.
47 Stories Above Shibuya At Shibuya Sky
Thanks for reading!