Japan Navigator

When I first saw elevator testing towers in Japan (one stands next to the Hankyu line between Osaka and Kyoto) I first wondered what these ungainly, eye-sore contraptions were for.

I found out years ago: they are for testing elevators and always stand inside an elevator factory of companies as Hitachi or Fujitec.

Mitsubishi Electric makes elevators and escalators in a factory in Inazawa, near Nagoya. I once had the pleasure to visit them and was impressed by the escalator technology: the escalators actually can move with an elegant curve, leading to beautiful designs for shopping malls etc.

Now Mitsubishi has built the world’s highest elevator tower in Inazawa, 173 meters high (567ft). The 50 million dollar facility will allow them to test drives, gears and cables of new high-speed elevators for the next generation of the world’s supertall buildings.

No, these will not be built in my country, the Netherlands, where people prefer to remain close to the earth, and not even in Japan. The drive for the skies is on in cities as Shanghai, Dubai and in Europe, London.

At present, the world’s tallest building stands in Taipei and is 508 meters high (1,666ft). The elevators were provided by Mitsubishi’s competitor Toshiba and move at speeds of 61km per hour. Luckily, they incorporate a pressure control system to prevent the dreaded “ear popping.”

(Thanks to BBC News)

Read more on Mitsubishi Electric’s website (Japanese) and in the Japan Visitor Blog (pictures).