120207-0159-PP - Ryounkaku Tower

Ryounkaku (凌雲閣) at Asakusa Park at Tokyo, Japan’s very first skyscraper, better known as Asakusa Junikai (浅草十二階, Asakusa Twelve Stories).

Designed by Scottish engineer W. K. Burton, the tower was completed in 1890 (Meiji 23). It housed Japan’s first electric elevator.

Ryounkaku was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake (Kanto Daishinsai) of September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12).

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