Tsutenkaku Tower: Crowd Levels, Waiting Times, and Duration - A First-Hand Investigation

Tsutenkaku Tower, a hugely popular tourist spot in Osaka, is a must-visit destination that attracts countless tourists daily. But how long are the waiting times to enjoy Tsutenkaku, and what is the total duration of the experience? We visited Tsutenkaku to investigate these questions first-hand!

Tsutenkaku Observatory Entrance

The entrance to Tsutenkaku is located at the base of the tower.

From here, you descend the stairs to the basement, where you will find the ticket counter. After purchasing your admission ticket, you proceed to the observatory.

First Challenge: The Queue to Enter

The first queue point is whether you can smoothly enter this entrance. During busy times like weekends, a long line can form near the entrance.

While many people are entering, there are also many exiting, so the line does move along gradually. Here, it’s really just a matter of waiting.

Second Challenge: The Queue from the Entrance to the Elevator

🕐 2:25 pm

As soon as you enter the Tsutenkaku Observatory entrance, you will see stairs descending to the basement.

Once you descend the stairs, you will find yourself in the basement level souvenir shop.

Here, too, a long line can form. The red area visible in the center is the ticket counter.

By the way, whether you have a same-day ticket, an advance ticket, a tour bus pass, or a fun pass, you must stand in this queue.

Monitors are installed along the way to show how long it will take to reach the observatory or the tower slider. At this point, there are still 55 minutes to go.

The ticket counter seems close but far. However, it’s only been about 10 minutes since we entered the basement souvenir shop, so it’s not an extremely long wait.

Finally, we reached the ticket counter.

It took 20 minutes from descending the stairs at the entrance to entering the basement souvenir shop to get the ticket.

🕐 2:46 pm

Now, we just need to take the elevator to reach the observatory!

Revealing the Mechanism Behind the Queues and Waiting Times

As we saw, you enter the basement, buy a ticket at the counter, and head to the observatory.

However, the queue at the entrance is not for buying tickets.

Since the observatory is accessed via an elevator, there is a limit to the number of people that can be transported at once. Even if the ticket purchasing is smooth, the following elevator wait creates a bottleneck, causing the line to extend outside the entrance.

As the elevator arrives and transports people, space opens up, allowing the line to move forward. Despite the impressive queues, there is a consistent progress due to these circumstances. (Of course, if too many people are allowed at once, the observatory would become crowded, so they are likely managing the flow effectively.)

Third Challenge: The Queue on the 4th Floor

🕐 2:52 pm

We thought we would quickly reach the 5th-floor observatory, but the elevator stops at the 4th floor, and another queue awaits.

On the 4th floor, there are various attractions to entertain you while you wait in line, making the wait less tedious than before. For example, a large number of capsule toy machines.

A photo opportunity with a giant Billiken statue (free of charge).

The line moves gradually, but it continues.

Then, we encountered the Kinnikuman exhibition. This was quite interesting and made this area the least boring.

Finally, we saw the elevator to the observatory.

🕐 3:06 pm

We reached the front of the elevator. We waited about 15 minutes on the 4th floor.

Finally, we arrived at the main observatory, the “Golden Observatory”!

Estimate 30 Minutes to 1 Hour for Waiting Time. The Entire Experience Takes About 1.5 Hours.

🕐 3:43 pm

After enjoying the 5th-floor main observatory, we also enjoyed the special outdoor observatory on the 6th floor, “Tenbou Paradise,” and the extended observatory, “TIP THE TSUTENKAKU,” before leaving Tsutenkaku.

To summarize, it took about 50 minutes from the entrance to the observatory while standing in line. Then, we enjoyed the 5th and 6th-floor observatories for about 30 minutes. Therefore, you should allow at least 1.5 hours to visit Tsutenkaku, considering the waiting time.

The queue before entering the entrance is not included in this time, so you should allow an additional 20-30 minutes for that queue.

The queue length varies greatly depending on the time of day, day of the week, and season, and sometimes there is no line at all. Avoiding busy times can help you enjoy Tsutenkaku without waiting.

The observatory itself was very enjoyable. Although not as high as Abeno Harukas, Tsutenkaku has an outdoor area that offers an incredible sense of openness!

When I first saw the queue on-site, I honestly considered giving up, but it moved faster than expected, which was good. The total waiting time was within an hour.

Tsutenkaku is worth visiting, even if you have to stand in line. Don’t give up and stay strong in the queue!