Shibuya Sky or Tokyo Skytree: Which to Visit

Pick Shibuya Sky if the open-air rooftop and the crossing below are what you want, and you can get a slot near sunset. Pick Tokyo Skytree if you want height, a guaranteed visit in any weather, a lower price and no fourteen-day booking scramble. First-time visitors with one evening are usually happier at Shibuya Sky; anyone travelling in unsettled weather is safer at Skytree.

These are the two observation decks most Tokyo visitors choose between, and the deciding factor is not height. Tokyo Skytree is nearly three times taller — decks at 350 m and 450 m against a 229.7 m rooftop (japan-guide.com; Wikidata P2048) — and every viewing level is behind glass. Shibuya Sky is a rooftop with nothing between you and the city, directly above the world's busiest pedestrian crossing — Guinness World Records puts Shibuya at "an estimated one million pedestrians each day" (verified 2014). One is a view of Tokyo; the other is a view of Tokyo with the wind in it.

The difference that actually decides it

Glass. Skytree's decks are enclosed, which means reflections in photographs and a certain distance from the city. Shibuya Sky's SKY STAGE is a roof, so the air, the noise and the scale arrive together, and the corner edges look straight down onto the crossing. If you have seen photographs of Tokyo from above that made you want to go, they were probably taken from an open rooftop.

Price and what it buys

Skytree admission starts around $14 for the 350-metre Tembo Deck, with the 450-metre Galleria as a paid option. Shibuya Sky is 2,700 yen before 15:00, about $17, and 3,400 yen after, about $22. So Skytree is cheaper and taller. That it still loses for many visitors tells you how much the open roof matters.

Booking and weather, where Skytree wins

Skytree's ticket is valid for the day. Shibuya Sky sells half-hour slots released fourteen days out at midnight Japan time, and the sunset windows go within minutes. Skytree is also weatherproof; Shibuya Sky's rooftop closes for wind, lightning and extreme heat, and neither the ticket nor a tour containing it is refunded when it does. On a trip with fixed dates and uncertain weather, that asymmetry is worth real money.

Getting to each

Shibuya Sky is built on top of Shibuya Station — the station is 34 metres from the entity's coordinates, which is as close as an attraction gets. Skytree sits in Sumida in the east, above the Tokyo Solamachi complex, and is a deliberate trip from most central accommodation rather than something folded into an afternoon.

Doing both

It is a lot of money for two versions of the same activity, and most people should not. If you do, split them: Skytree by day for the height and the glass floor, Shibuya Sky at sunset for the open air and the crossing. Doing them in the same evening wastes the thing that makes each distinct.

What about Tokyo Tower?

Tokyo Tower is the third option and a different proposition again: lower than both, older, and as much a landmark to look at as to look from. It has its own comparison page here.