Tokyo's Rooftop Helipads Are Unused

Above, a view of Tokyo from Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japan Times has posted an interesting article about Tokyo.

It seems that a number of buildings in the city have rooftop helipads, but they are largely unused.

They reported:

Tokyo’s Peninsula Hotel boasts a chauffeur-driven 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom, a celebrity podiatrist studio and an aviation lounge to whisk executives to and from its $1,000-a-night suites by helicopter. Since it opened in 2007, the rooftop helipad has never been used. 

The hotel is one of about 80 buildings in the capital with a helipad, more than any other city in the world, but most are rarely, if ever, used. Partly this is because of the neighbors. Japan’s noise restrictions and local and national government rules mean that the few choppers in the Tokyo skies tend to be ferrying government officials or television crews. 

But the helipads are there, and as the world’s biggest city adds more tall buildings, their number is rising. They are waiting for an earthquake or disaster.

To read more, go here.