70602-0009 - Asakusa

Theater Street in Asakusa Park, Tokyo, Japan. The huge banners promote the theaters.

In the background Ryounkaku (凌雲閣), also called Asakusa Junikai (浅草十二階, Asakusa Twelve Stories), can be seen.

Designed by the Scottish engineer W. K. Burton, Ryounkaku was built in 1890. The twelve story tower was the tallest building in Japan at the time and housed exhibition halls, shops, restaurants, bars and an observation tower.

It featured Japan’s first electric elevators (for safety reasons, these were shut down only half a year after the opening of the tower). The tower was destroyed during the Great Kanto Earthquake (Kanto Daishinsai) of September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12).

The area of Asakusa originally consisted of rice paddies owned by Sensoji Temple. It was redeveloped in 1883 and became Japan’s largest and most popular entertainment district during the second half of the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912).

See blog entry.