Naming and Height
From October to November 2007, suggestions were collected from the general public for the name to be given to the tower. On 19 March 2008, a committee chose six final candidate names: Tōkyō Sukaitsurī (東京スカイツリー?, "Tokyo sky tree"), Tōkyō Edo Tawā (東京EDOタワー?, "Tokyo Edo tower"), Raijingu Tawā (ライジングタワー?, "Rising tower"), Mirai Tawā (みらいタワー?, "Tower of the future"), Yumemi Yagura (ゆめみやぐら?, "Dream lookout"), Raijingu Īsuto Tawā (ライジングイーストタワー?, "Rising east tower"). (The names of course are Japanese, and the glosses are just that, and not "official English" versions.) The official name was decided in a nationwide vote, and was announced on 10 June 2008 as "Tokyo Skytree". The name received around 33,000 votes (30%) out of 110,000 cast, with the second most popular name being "Tokyo Edo Tower".
Since the name was decided in Japanese, which has no spaces between words, it is not possible to say whether it was intended to be "Tokyo Skytree" or "Tokyo Sky Tree." The official website states "TOKYO SKYTREE" (all caps) as a registered trademark in English, but the version in the logo is clearly "SKY TREE." English-language publications are divided between the two versions.
The height of 634 m (2,080 ft) was selected to be easily remembered. The figures 6 (mu), 3 (sa), 4 (shi) stand for "Musashi", an old name of the region where the Tokyo Skytree stands.
Read more about this topic: Tokyo Sky Tree
Famous quotes containing the words naming and/or height:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“The prevalence of suicide, without doubt, is a test of height in civilization; it means that the population is winding up its nervous and intellectual system to the utmost point of tension and that sometimes it snaps.”
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)