Ryōunkaku

The Ryōunkaku (凌雲閣 ), or Asakusa Jūnikai (浅草十二階 ) is a location that appears in he planned anime series Despera.

This skyscraper was a real building that stood in the Asakusa district of City of Tokyo (now Taitō, Tokyo) from 1890 until its demolition following the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923.

Story
In Depsera, Ain is working, with her associate Takeshita, on her inventions in the Ryōunkaku basement.

Some artworks show that the antenna at the top of the tower can provide a great amount of electricity maybe able to help Ain in her projects.

History
The Ryōunkaku was Japan's first western-style building, it was designed by Scottish engineer W. K. Burton in the late 1880s, not long after his arrival in Japan. It was a 225-foot (69 m) twelve-floor tower of red bricks over a wood frame, in renaissance revival style. It quickly became a landmark and symbol of Asakusa after its opening in 1890. It was Tokyo's most popular attraction, and a showcase for new technologies (t housed Japan's first electric elevator).

The Ryōunkaku's second through seventh floors held 46 stores selling goods from around the world. A lounge was on the eighth floor, and art exhibitions were held on the ninth floor. The tenth through twelfth floors were observation decks from which all of Tokyo could be seen, and on clear days, Mount Fuji. Many artistic and cultural events were held in the Ryōunkaku, including Western music concerts, geisha photograph exhibitions, and beauty contests. A well-known store was the place where wood-block prints were made for Sugoroku, a popular Japanese board game.

When the 1894 tremor weakened the structure, it was reinforced with steel girders. However, the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 destroyed the upper floors, and damaged the whole tower so severely that it had to be demolished.

Trivia

 * In one of the illustration form the Graphic Novel, we can seE on a monitor a picture of a collapsed Ryōunkaku after the Great Kanto earthquake. This could be mean that one of the prophecy saw by Ain during the series will be the collapse of the building.