When the original Tsutenkaku was built in 1912, its designers drew directly from European grandeur. The tower's base incorporated elements inspired by the Arc de Triomphe, while the upper structure echoed the Eiffel Tower's iron lattice. An aerial cable car linked the tower to Luna Park, an amusement park modeled on New York's Coney Island original, completing a district designed as an international fantasy playground. At 64 meters, the first Tsutenkaku was the second-tallest structure in Asia and became one of Osaka's most popular destinations virtually overnight. The surrounding neighborhood took the name Shinsekai -- 'New World' -- and the ambition was literal. This corner of Naniwa-ku was meant to feel like stepping onto another continent, a place where Japanese visitors could experience a curated version of Western spectacle without leaving home.

On a January day in 1943, fire tore through the original Tsutenkaku. The damage was severe but not irreparable -- under normal circumstances, repairs would have followed. But Japan was deep into World War II, and steel was being commandeered for the military effort. Rather than repair the tower, authorities ordered it dismantled. The iron was carted off to feed warship construction and weapons manufacturing. Luna Park had already closed in 1923. With the tower gone, Shinsekai lost its defining landmark and slid into decades of decline. The neighborhood that had been built to evoke Paris and New York became known instead for cheap restaurants, pachinko parlors, and a grittiness that kept mainstream tourists away. But through the postwar years, the people of Osaka lobbied persistently to rebuild their tower.

In the early 1950s, a private company -- the Tsutenkaku Kanko Co. Ltd. -- was formed to fund reconstruction. They hired Tachu Naito, the structural engineer known as Japan's 'Father of Towers,' to design the replacement. Naito's portfolio would eventually include Tokyo Tower, and his eight-sided design for the new Tsutenkaku reflected both engineering confidence and a break from the original's European mimicry. The rebuilt tower opened in 1956, standing 103 meters tall with an observation deck at 91 meters. It was unmistakably modern, unmistakably Osaka, and it immediately reclaimed its role as Shinsekai's visual anchor. Hitachi began sponsoring the tower in 1957, wrapping its exterior in neon advertisements that would become as iconic as the structure itself. The lights were turned off only once -- during the oil crisis of 1974 to 1976 -- before returning in full blaze.

On the fifth-floor observation deck sits a golden figure with a wide grin and pointy head: Billiken, the 'God of Happiness,' or more precisely the god of 'things as they ought to be.' The original Billiken was an American charm doll that arrived in Japan around 1910 and was enshrined in Luna Park when the amusement park opened. When Luna Park closed in 1923, the wooden statue vanished. In 1979, as part of a campaign to revitalize the tower, a replica was carved from an old photograph and placed inside Tsutenkaku. The statue became inseparable from the tower's identity. Each year, thousands of visitors drop a coin in Billiken's donation box and rub the soles of his feet to make wishes come true. The ritual is half sincere belief, half Osaka humor -- a city that has always preferred irreverence to solemnity, even in its spiritual practices.

Today Tsutenkaku's LED lighting -- upgraded from the original neon tubes -- cycles through color schemes that change every two months. Pink illuminates the tower in March and April for cherry blossom season. Hitachi advertisements still wrap one side, while a public service announcement typically occupies another. The lights at the very top serve as a weather beacon, their color combinations forecasting the next day's weather. Below the tower, Shinsekai has found a second life as one of Osaka's most popular street-food neighborhoods, famous for kushikatsu -- deep-fried skewered everything -- and the kind of unpretentious energy that Osaka cultivates as a point of civic pride. The tower that was built to make Osaka feel like Paris has become something better: a 103-meter exclamation point that is entirely, unapologetically Osaka.