Prices here are the yen figures, with today's conversion beside them. When we last checked, on September 4, 2026, ¥157 bought a US dollar and ¥212 a pound.
The short answer
Shibuya Sky tickets for one date go on sale 14 days before it, at midnight Tokyo time. Watch the calendar trap: midnight in Tokyo falls on the previous day where you are, so counted from home the window opens 15 days out. Late afternoon and evening slots go within hours. Morning slots stay available until the day itself.
Shibuya Sky is the observation deck on top of Shibuya Scramble Square, 229 meters up (751 feet), with an open-air roof terrace looking straight down on the most filmed crossing in the world.
The east tower of Shibuya Scramble Square. The terrace is the open deck above the top glazed floor.
Photo Sakura Torch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
When Shibuya Sky tickets go on sale, and not before
You cannot book weeks ahead, whatever you have read: the window opens exactly 14 days before the date of your visit, nothing exists beyond it, and pages that look authoritative still say otherwise. The rule has been in force since April 2025, which is why so much older advice is still online and is now simply wrong.
The window opens at midnight in Tokyo. For once the time difference works for you rather than against you:
- New York and the East Coast: 11 a.m. the previous day, or 10 a.m. between November and March.
- Los Angeles and the West Coast: 8 a.m. the previous day, 7 a.m. in winter.
- London: 4 p.m. the previous day, 3 p.m. in winter.
Nothing like sumo tickets, which open at 9 p.m. on the East Coast and 2 a.m. in London.
That same shift changes the date. Midnight in Japan lands on the previous day at home, so the count that’s 14 days in Tokyo becomes 15 days from where you are. For a visit on September 20, the window opens on September 5, not the 6th.
The counter on the 14th floor sells exactly the same stock. When the website shows an adult slot as full, the counter shows it as full too, so turning up at the tower on the day to dodge the online scramble buys you nothing at all.
Two ticket sellers beat one
The official sale runs through Webket, the venue’s own ticketing platform. Klook sells the same entries as an authorized reseller. It is a second door onto the same slot: when one shows your date as sold out, the other is worth a look before you give up on your evening.
The slot decides everything
Tickets are timed in 20-minute bands. That time is when you go through the gate, not how long you may stay: once you’re in you can stay as long as you like, but you cannot step out and come back.
The box office sells two different products, and this is where it is decided:
- The day ticket, 10 a.m. to 2:59 p.m.
- The evening ticket, 3 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., last entry at 9:20 p.m.
Evening slots go first, and by a long way. Recorded on August 15, 2026 on the official platform, across the 14 dates then on sale: every morning slot was available, while 10 of those 14 dates showed sold out for the evening, and the remaining four had only a handful of places left.
The terrace at the hour everyone is aiming for. That’s the slot that goes on the day tickets are released. Photo Joshua Tsu.
So if you want the end of the day, be at the screen when the window opens, 15 days before your visit. If the hour makes no difference to you, book two days ahead without stress, because the morning slots hold.
What it costs
The price follows the slot, and above the age of twelve it does not follow your age.
- Day slot, online: ¥2,700 (about $17). At the counter: ¥3,000 (about $19).
- Evening slot, online: ¥3,400 (about $22). At the counter: ¥3,700 (about $24).
- Child aged 6 to 11: ¥1,200 (about $8), any slot.
Two things to take from that. Booking online saves ¥300 (about $2) whichever slot you pick, and the evening view costs ¥700 (about $4) more than the morning one. There’s no senior rate and no group rate.
One detail that catches families out: the child ticket is sold at the counter only, and the child has to be there, which means the last part of your booking cannot be finished from home if you’re traveling with anyone under twelve.
The roof closes, and when you walk in changes everything
The roof terrace closes without notice in high wind, rain, snow, an approaching thunderstorm, a pollution peak or abnormal heat. The indoor corridor on the 46th floor stays open.
Check whether the roof is open before you go through the gate. If the terrace is shut at your slot you can cancel free of charge on the day, on the one condition that you have not gone in. Once through the gate there’s no refund. No gesture of goodwill either, even if all you see is the indoor floor. The observatory posts the state of the roof on its own account.
There’s no way to know in advance whether the roof will be open on your date.
Worth knowing too: cancellation is free until the day before on the web tickets concerned, but there is no date change at all, so moving your visit means canceling and buying again inside the same 14-day window.
Tokyo Tower from the roof, once the light has gone. Photo Haotian Zheng.
What does not go up on the roof
The rule surprises a lot of visitors at the last minute, because it is strict and it applies 229 meters above the street. On the terrace you may keep a camera or a pair of binoculars on a neck strap. Your phone too.
Everything else goes into a locker on the 46th floor: bags of every kind, backpack and clutch alike, and also tripods, selfie sticks, earphones and headphones, hats and caps, food and drink. If your clothes have no pockets, the 46th floor desk lends you a small carrying pouch.
Large suitcases do not come into the building. Leave those in a station locker before you come.
If budget matters more than height
Tokyo has several free observatories, and the most useful one for a sunset is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. Both towers are open and entry is free, with the South Tower staying open until 10 p.m. You go up with no ticket, no slot and no 14-day window.
The two towers of the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. The observatory sits at the top of each. Photo Shunya Koide.
The view is not the same. You do not look down on the Shibuya crossing, and there’s no open-air terrace. But to watch Tokyo light up without paying anything, without booking anything and without counting back 15 days from your date, it is the simplest option in the city.
What you can do today
- Count 15 days back from your date, not 14. The Japanese rule really is 14 days, but midnight in Tokyo lands the day before at home. Write down your own local time: 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 8 a.m. on the West Coast, 4 p.m. in London, an hour earlier on all three between November and March.
- Decide the slot before you look at the price. It is the slot that tells you whether you have to be punctual or whether you can book the day before.
- On the day, open both sellers at that hour: Webket, the venue’s own, and Klook. If one shows your slot as full, the other is worth a look before you give up.
- If the terrace is what you came for, check its state before you pass the gate, not after.
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