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All Japan Tokyo The Giant Ghibli Clock

The Giant Ghibli Clock

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

Tokyo, Japan

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etiennebara
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CAPTION
The clock is at the Nippon TV tower in Shiodome, Tokyo   Jessica Patterson
There are over 30 separate mechanical actions   Dick Thomas Johnson
Clock detail   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
The blacksmiths   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
Claw and ball detail   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
It even tells time   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
The clock feet are giant claws   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
The clock at night   OiMax
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
It’s huge, and visible from all around the Tower   etiennebara / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
The Giant Ghibli Clock  
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  AFJAGExplores / Atlas Obscura User
Clock seen from the passageway   RomulusRom / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Officially called the “NI-Tele Really BIG Clock,” four or five times a day this wacked-out symphonic mega-machine spins, dances, whirs and clanks. And as a side gig, it also tells the time.

The giant clock is in the Shiodome section of Tokyo, at the Nittele Tower (headquarters of Nippon Television). It was designed by Hayao Miyazaki, the renowned director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and while it’s not exactly drawn from his 2004 film Howl’s Moving Castle, it’s been likened to the aesthetic of the anime classic.

The clock is huge: over 20 tons of copper and steel, three stories high and 60 feet wide. Besides chiming out the time, there are over 30 mechanical vignettes at appointed hours, including cannons, a couple of blacksmiths, a wheel spinner, boiling teapot and two bell-headed piston crankers. They all move in a delicate and industrious ballet, some reminiscent of a cuckoo clock and others like 19th century tin toys.

The clock springs to life four times on Monday to Friday, with an extra show on Saturdays and Sundays. Each performance begins about four minutes ahead of the hour, and you can see it from many different spots around the Nippon TV tower. But get as close as you can so you can really see the detail. Anime fan or not, Miyazaki’s clock is crazy with detail.

Related Tags

Clocks Steampunk Mechanical Instruments Time

Know Before You Go

The clock is located in front of the Nittele Tower (Nippon Television headquarters). It jumps into action every day at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8 .p.m, and there is an extra morning chime on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. It’s a good idea to get there a few minutes early, so you’re ready when the music begins and the wheels start to turn. Take the Yurikamome Line to the Shiodome station or get off at Shimbashi station where several of the main lines meet.

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Added By

etiennebara

Edited By

DJorgensen, Sebastian Wortys, Collector of Experiences, RomulusRom...

  • DJorgensen
  • Sebastian Wortys
  • Collector of Experiences
  • RomulusRom
  • AFJAGExplores

Published

November 18, 2016

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  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH4zc3qVYpg
  • http://www.otakunews.com/article.php?story=2259
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JvalGM4hZk
  • http://muza-chan.net/japan/index.php/blog/tokyo-steampunk-hayao-miyazaki-clock
The Giant Ghibli Clock
Nittele Tower (Nippon Television)
1 Chome-6-1 Higashishinbashi
Tokyo
Japan
35.664465, 139.760192
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