Umeda Sky Building - Osaka - TravBuddy

The Umeda Sky Building (梅田スカイビル, Umeda Sukai Biru) is the 7th tallest building in Osaka, Japan, and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. It consists of two 40-story towers that connect at the top with a bridge across them containing an observatory, The Floating Garden Observatory, which is an atrium-like space centeed between the two towers. There are also garddens and other places to visit at the base of the building.

Located in the Umeda District of Kita-ku, the building was originally conceived in 1988 as the "City of Air" project, with four towers planned but only two were built. The 173 m (568 ft) building was designed by Hiroshi Hara. It was constructed by Takenaka Corporation and was completed in 1993. [From Wikipedia]

Jenny and I were amazed by this structure, which was also featured on Leg 10 of The Amazing Race season 12. I could not believe we went up there the day after we had a 6.7 and a 7.2 earthquake (Oki-ji-shen) which shook our hotel 10-15 feet (4.5 meters) sideways. The floating observatory is a must see in Osaka, despite the aftershocks!