Twelve Storied Tower, Tokyo, 1895

Twelve Storied Tower, Tokyo, 1895, is a Taisho-era woodblock that looks back in time to depict the Ryounkaku, the famous twelve-story brick tower built in Asakusa in 1890. The tower was Japan's first skyscraper and a symbol of Meiji-era modernization until the 1923 earthquake destroyed it. By printing this subject during the Taisho era, Tobari was already creating a historical document, preserving a structure that represented Tokyo's first experiment with vertical ambition. The 1895 date in the title specifies a moment when the tower was still new and astonishing, a red brick column rising above the low wooden buildings of old Asakusa.