Opened in 1993 within Shin Umeda City, Sky Building is comprised of 2 towers, Tower East and Tower West, that stand 40 stories above ground and 2 under. With a height of about 173 meters, this skyscraper is one of Osaka's landmarks. It was designed by Tokyo University professor Hiroshi Hara. Taking inspiration from the movie, "The Towering Inferno," Hara came up with the idea of having a structure consist of two buildings connected with an observation deck on their top floors. This novel idea was made possible by constructing the observation deck on ground level beforehand and lifting it up by wire rope to complete the process. Having appeared in the English publishing company, DK's "Top 20 Buildings Around The World," recent years have seen many foreign tourists visit. From Kuchu Teien Observatory, you can see not only the city of Umeda, but also out into the heart of Osaka, and on particularly good days, even further into the distance to places like Awaji Island. The observatory is also known as a special place for lovers, with the presence of Kuchu Teien Daimyojin, a deity that is said to bring romantic fulfillment. It takes about 10 minutes to here walking from Umeda Station.