Long before the Tokyo Skytree rose over the city skyline, another “tallest tower in Japan” once stood in Asakusa. Its name was Ryouunkaku—literally, “the tower that soars above the clouds.” Completed in 1890, this twelve-story octagonal brick tower stood about 52 meters tall and was celebrated as a proud symbol of Japan’s modernization. Locals affectionately called it the “Asakusa Twelve Stories.”
Japan’s Very Own Eiffel Tower
Built just one year after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Ryouunkaku was often dubbed “the Japanese Eiffel Tower.” The first ten floors were made of brick, while the upper two were wooden, topped by a lightning rod that gleamed in the Tokyo sky. Each floor was illuminated by three electric lights, and two arc lamps shone from the upper deck—turning Asakusa into a sea of light at night.
The upper floors served as observation decks, equipped with telescopes that allowed visitors to see Mount Fuji and even the Boso Peninsula on clear days. Below them, about fifty shops filled the lower floors, making Ryouunkaku not only a sightseeing spot but also one of Tokyo’s earliest entertainment complexes.
Japan’s First Electric Elevator
What truly set Ryouunkaku apart was its electric elevator—the first ever installed in Japan. Designed by engineer Ichisuke Fujioka, who later founded the company that became Toshiba, the elevator was powered by a 7-horsepower DC motor imported from the United States. Electricity was supplied at 210 volts from the nearby Tokyo Electric Light Company’s fifth power station—marking the beginning of Japan’s power transmission for industrial use.
The tower had two elevators, one painted yellow and the other red, each traveling from the first to the eighth floor in about one minute. Inside, cushioned benches lined the walls, mirrors and lights gave it a modern flair, and up to twenty people could ride at once. However, the safety mechanisms were primitive, and within just six months of operation, the police ordered that the elevators be shut down due to frequent malfunctions. They were later restarted, but never fully reliable. An American visitor, Robert Gardiner, even remarked that the elevators were “poorly maintained,” though he was still impressed by the tower’s panoramic views.
Despite these setbacks, Ryouunkaku’s elevator gave people their first taste of “ascending into the sky”—a thrilling symbol of progress in the Meiji era.
A Cultural Landmark of the Modern Age
Ryouunkaku was more than a viewing platform—it was a cultural hub of Meiji Tokyo. Its floors hosted cafés, imported goods stores, and exhibitions of paintings and photographs, offering a glimpse of the Westernized lifestyle that fascinated city dwellers at the time. In 1911, the Twelve Stories Theater opened at its base, and by 1914 the elevators were running again, briefly restoring the tower’s popularity.
The Great Kanto Earthquake and the Fall of a Dream
On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo. The upper half of Ryouunkaku—everything above the eighth floor—collapsed, killing nearly all visitors on the top observation deck. The remaining structure was so unstable that the army’s engineers demolished it with explosives later that month. Newspapers lamented, “A symbol of Asakusa for thirty-three years has vanished forever.”
Traces of the Twelve Stories Today
Today, a stone monument marks the former site of Ryouunkaku in the Rokku district of Asakusa. Some nearby cafés and galleries display old postcards and photographs of the tower, keeping its memory alive among those who stroll through the area. When you gaze upon Tokyo Skytree, imagine the Meiji-era tower that once reached for the same sky— the dream of a nation that believed in progress, light, and the power to rise above the clouds.