The Tokyo Skytree, a 634-meter-tall structure, holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest self-supporting tower. It opened to the public on May 22, 2012, and withstood the March 2011 earthquake without any damage reported by the Japanese government. The tower’s design features a central reinforced concrete column, known as the "shinbashira," which is decoupled from the surrounding steel frame. This column is connected to the frame up to 125 meters in height, and between 125 and 375 meters, oil dampers are used to manage movement. The Japanese government states that the core of the tower is a 10-meter diameter void that rises up to about 475 meters. A cylindrical reinforced concrete column, 8 meters in diameter and 375 meters in height, was installed through this void. The operator of the Skytree refers to the system as an "additional mass mechanism," a modern vibration control technology that reduces shear force by approximately 40 percent during a major earthquake. When the steel frame moves in one direction, the heavier concrete column reacts with a delay, mitigating overall swaying. The oil dampers located between 125 and 375 meters absorb part of the relative movement between the column and the external structure. The name "shinbashira" is borrowed from Japanese five-story pagodas, in which a central pole traverses the height of the building. The operator states that the name was chosen with deep respect for this ancient wisdom, by analogy with the pagoda. The operator also mentions that no cases of collapse of these pagodas due to an earthquake have been recorded, though this statement is reported under his responsibility. The exact cause of this resistance remains debated. The operator himself writes that it is assumed that the secret of the pagodas lies in their central column, and he also mentions several theories. The Skytree therefore does not copy a proven recipe; it translates an attractive hypothesis with today's materials and calculations. The overall structural plan was provided by the Nikken Sekkei office. According to Wikipedia, the tower had reached 625 meters during the March 2011 earthquake, and its final height of 634 meters was achieved on March 18, 2011. The Japanese government states that the tower was not damaged in the earthquake, and it cites among the reasons the control system using a central column, used for the first time. The wording is important: "one of the reasons." The official source does not present the column as the sole explanation. It would therefore be misleading to attribute the tower's stability entirely to this single device, especially since the column works in conjunction with the steel frame and the oil dampers. A useful detail for visitors is that this architecture is invisible from the observation platform, since the column is housed in the central void. What is visible is a steel silhouette.