is a 100-metre-tall lattice tower

Lattice tower

A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding framework tower. They can be used as electricity pylons especially for voltages above 100 kilovolts, as a radio tower or as an observation tower....

 located in Beppu, Ōita

Beppu, Oita

is a city located in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan, at the west end of Beppu Bay. As of January 1, 2011, the city has an official population of 125,664 and a total area of 125.13 km², with a population density of 977 persons per km²....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Initially built to help boost tourism in the area, today the tower is primarily used as TV transmission tower. It has an observation deck at a height of 55 metres (180 ft).

History

Beppu Tower was built in two years, from 1956 to 57 and was originally planned to open the Beppu Tourism Exhibition, held from March 20 through May 20, 1957. Construction was slightly delayed, however, and the tower was not completed until May 10, ten days before the exhibition ended. Its original name was until 1961 when it was officially changed to Beppu Tower.

The tower first displayed advertising for National

National (brand)

National was a brand used by Panasonic Corporation to sell home appliances, personal appliances, and industrial appliances and was the first name used by Konosuke Matsushita's electric firm to sell his battery-powered bicycle lamps, hoping that they would be a product used by all of Japan, hence...

. Currently, it displays eight neon Asahi

Asahi Breweries

Asahi Breweries, Ltd. is a leading brewery and soft drink company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market....

signs — four in English, four in Japanese.