In 1964, the tallest building in Japan, the New Otani Hotel, was only 72 meters tall, insignificant compared to Empire State Building, which then was the tallest building in the world.
But long time ago, in 1890, at the very beginning of tall buildings construction, a tower from Japan was only 25 meters smaller than the world’s tallest building of the time, the New York World Building, which was 94 meters tall.
Called Ryōunkaku ("Cloud-Surpassing Tower"), it was an octagonal tower built in a Western-style, brick over wooden frame, designed by the Scottish engineer W. K. Burton. Located in Asakusa, Ryōunkaku was 12 floors tall and was visible from a great distance (see here an old panorama of Asakusa, but unfortunately it was severely damaged by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and was subsequently demolished.
Today, only a few old photos are reminding of this once amazing tower, and a famous woodblock print made by Utagawa Kunisada, photographed here at the Tepco Asakusakan from Tokyo. Since Tokyo Sky Tree is very close, I wonder… wouldn’t it be interesting for Asakusa to have Ryōunkaku rebuilt?
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Yesterday’s Japan Photo:Japanese traditional architecture, Hashirou |
